1.
Geography of Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
2.
Parliament of Sri Lanka
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The Parliament of Sri Lanka is the 225-member unicameral legislature of Sri Lanka. The members of Parliament are elected by proportional representation for five-year terms, Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. It is modeled after the British Parliament, the Speaker or, in his absence the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees or the Deputy Chairman of Committees, presides over Parliament. The nations President has the power to summon, suspend, prorogue, or terminate a legislative session, of the 225 members,196 are elected from 22 electoral districts, which are multi-member. The remaining 29 MPs are elected from National Lists allocated to the parties in proportion to their share of the national vote, at first it was made up of only British officials but later included native citizens. At the beginning 16, and later 49, members were elected for the Legislative Council, but a limited number of people were qualified to vote. It was based on the Westminster model with a house, the Senate, whose members were appointed and a lower house of parliament. The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971, on 22 May 1972 when the republican constitution was enacted, the House of Representatives was replaced with the National State Assembly which had 168 elected members. This itself was replaced by the Parliament of Sri Lanka when the constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was enacted in 1977, in 1987, a grenade was lobbed into a conference room inside the Parliament complex where government MPs were meeting. Two people were killed and sixteen injured, but the target of the attack, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna claimed responsibility for the attack. The Presidential Secretariat announced that the Government will be functioning as joint government comprising two major parties, until 1972, the post was known as Clerk of Parliament. Currently, the Secretary Generals administration is divided into eight departments, the Staff Advisory Committee established under the Parliamentary Staff Act provides advice and guidance to the Parliamentary Secretariat with respect to matters concerning Parliamentary staff. The SAC consists of the Speaker, the Leader of the House, the Minister of Finance and the Leader of the Opposition. On January 29,1930 the British Governor of Ceylon, Sir Herbert Stanley, opened a building fronting the ocean at Galle Face, Colombo and it was subsequently used by the State Council, the House of Representatives, the National State Assembly and the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Today the Old Parliament Building is used by the Presidential Secretariat, in 1967 under Speaker Albert F. The island was where the palace of the King Vikramabahu IIIs powerful Minister Nissaka Alakesvara had been situated and it had belonged to E. W. Perera prior to being vested in the state. The building was designed by architect Deshamanya Geoffrey Bawa and built with Sri Lankan funds, on April 29,1982, the new Parliamentary Complex was declared open by President J. R. Jayewardene. Committee On Public Enterprises Politics of Sri Lanka List of legislatures by country Official website
3.
Ceylonese parliamentary election, 1947
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General elections were held in Ceylon from 23 August to 20 September 1947. This is considered the first national election held in Sri Lanka, although it took place before independence was actually granted, it was the first election under the Soulbury Constitution. Some of the figures who had led the independence struggle were found in the rightwing United National Party led by D. S. Senanayake. In opposition were the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, the Communist Party of Ceylon, the Ceylon Indian Congress and an array of independents. Senanayakes UNP fell short of a majority, but was able to form a government in coalition with the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Sri Lanka obtained full independence as a dominion in 1948. Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947, archived from the original on 2016-02-04. Chapter 11, On the threshold of freedom
4.
United National Party
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The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP, is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the ruling party in the government of Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe. The UNP is considered to have right-leaning, pro-capitalist, and liberal conservative policies. 66% of the popular vote and it beat the United Peoples Freedom Alliance, a left-leaning coalition, which won 44. 38% of the vote. The Front held a majority in parliament with the support of some UPFA members, the UNP had previously been the governing party or in the governing coalition from 1947 to 1956, from 1965 to 1970, from 1977 to 1994 and 2001 to 2004. In total, the UNP governed Sri Lanka for 38 of 69 years of its independent history, the UNP also had control of the executive presidency from the presidencys formation in 1978 to 1994. The UNP is a party to the right of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. The UNP is also member of the International Democrat Union, the UNP was founded on 6 September 1946 by amalgamating three right-leaning pro-dominion parties from the majority Sinhalese community and minority Tamil and Muslim communities. The UNP represented the community and the landed gentry. However, Senanayake also adopted populist policies that made the party accepted in the grassroots level. S Senanayake is considered as the father of the nation, after independnece he refused a Knighthood but maintained good relations with Britain and was a Privy Counsel. These measures were intended primarily to undermine the Left electorally, in 1952 Prime Minister Senanayake died in a riding accident, and his son Dudley became Prime Minister. This irked long standing UNP stalwart S. W. R. D, bandaranaike, a Buddhist nationalist leader known for his centre-left views. Bandaranaike quit the party to found the Sri Lanka Freedom Party as a force between the UNP and Marxist parties. In 1953 the UNP attempted to reduce the rice ration and there was a Hartal, there was growing disaffection with the UNP particularly because of its support of minority religious groups, most notably Catholics, to the consternation of the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese. Bandaranaike was able to take advantage and lead the SLFP to victory in the 1956 elections, soon afterwards he passed the controversial Sinhala Only Act, which led to communal clashes in 1958. For the latter, he was called “Yankee Dickey. ”After Dudley Senanayake’s death in 1973, J. R. Jayewardene became leader of the UNP, the party won an unprecedented five-sixths of the seats in parliament. J. R. Jayewardene got himself elected Executive President by Parliament and, in 1978, the UNP opened up the economy and revolutionized the entire outlook of the country. Free-trade zones such as in Katunayaka and Biyagama were established in order to generate employment which resulted in leading international companies investing in Sri Lanka, the government undertook massive development work to promote hydroelectricity and agriculture. Reservoirs were built at Victoria, Randenigala, Rantambe and Kotmale while Maduru Oya and he created the University of Ruhuna and the Eastern University as well as the Medical faculty of the Jaffna university Bandaranayake International Airport was modernized and Air Lanka was created
5.
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
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The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was founded in 1935 and emerged as a political force in the Sri Lankan independence movement during the 1940s. It joined a government in 1964, and was then expelled from the Fourth International. It peaked in strength in the 1970s, but has declined gradually during the last 30 years. In the parliamentary election held on 2 April 2004, the party was part of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance, one of those 105 seats belongs to LSSP. The Lanka Sama Samaja Party was the first modern party in Sri Lanka and the first party to have an indigenous name rather than an English one. The Sinhala term samasamajaya was one coined by Dally Jayawardena in the Swadesa Mitraya to translate the term socialist, however, the usage of samasamajaya has since been superseded by samajavadaya in everything but in the names of the LSSP and various of its splinter groups. The Tamil term samadharmam was used to translate socialist, but nowadays the English term is used, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was founded on 18 December 1935 with the broad aims of Independence and Socialism, by a group of young people who had gathered together for that purpose. The group at the commencement numbered a bare half-dozen composed principally of students who had returned from abroad, influenced deeply by the ideas of Karl Marx and Lenin. The original group consisted of N. M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Leslie Goonewardene, Philip Gunawardena, the LSSP grew out of the Youth Leagues, in which a nucleus of Marxists had developed. The leaders were mainly educated returnees from London, youth who had come into contact with the ideas of the European Left and were influenced by Harold Laski. Dr S. A. Wickremasinghe, an early returnee and a member of the State Council from 1931, was part of this group, the group, through the South Colombo Youth League, became involved in a strike at the Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills. It published a journal in Sinhala, Kamkaruwa. In 1933 the group got involved in the Suriya-Mal movement, which had formed to provide support for indigenous ex-servicemen by the sale of Suriya flowers. The Suriya-Mal movement surged as a reaction to the fact that at the time Poppy Day funds went solely to British ex-servicemen, the movement was honed by volunteer work among the poor during the Malaria Epidemic of 1934-1935. The volunteers found that there was widespread malnutrition, which helped fight by making pills of Marmite yeast extract. In 1936 the LSSP contested the State Council elections in four constituencies, the two new members, Philip Gunawardena and N. M. Perera, proved to be a thorn in the side of the British Colonial government. The LSSP began fraternal relations with the Congress Socialist Party of India, Mrs Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya of the CSP was invited by the LSSP for a highly successful political tour of the island
6.
Gampaha District
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Gampaha District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. It is the second most populous district of Sri Lanka after Colombo District, the district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the town of Gampaha, negombo is the largest city of this district. The district was carved out of the part of Colombo District in September 1978. Gampaha District is located in the west of Sri Lanka and has an area of 1,387 square kilometres and it is bounded by Kurunegala and Puttalam districts from north, Kegalle District from east, Colombo District from south and by the Indian Ocean from west. The borders of the district are the Maha River on the north, Gampaha District is divided into 13 Divisional Secretarys Division, each headed by a Divisional Secretary. The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 1,177 Grama Niladhari Divisions, Gampaha Districts population was 2,294,641 in 2012. The majority of the population are Sinhalese, with a minority Sri Lankan Moor and Sri Lankan Tamil population
7.
Walauwa
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Walauwa is the name given to a feudal/colonial manor house in Ceylon of a native headmen. It is also reference to the social systems that existed during the colonial era. There were 18 main walauwas in the Kandyan Kingdom of Ceylon, gurugalpola Walawwa-Galagedra There were 30 main walauwas in the Sathara Korale of Ceylon according to the Sathara Korale Viththi Grantha. There were in order, There have been a number of other prominent, well known walauwas in Ceylon. These walauwas comprised a mix of Sri Lankan, Portuguese, Dutch, the word Walauwa may not have a Sinhalese origin, it is unclear whether it was a Sinhalese word from the beginning, but this word may have been adapted from the Tamil word Walaw. In Sinhalese, it gives a sound rather than the singular word Walaw which means Mansion. The typical Sinhala term is Maha Gedhara, the English word of Walauwa is, Manor or Manor-House, and its a large house with lands. The Walauwas and its owners were supported by the larger lands and these were either land grants from Kings or government service or acquired by successful enterprise and passed down though generations. Their owners were the elites of Ceylon, as such they gained a status of power. A notable feature of many of these walauwas, especially Kandyan walauwas was an interior open space/garden known as the medha midula, There is another theory about Walauwas. Walavum means a place where a judgement is given and those people who occupied the Walauwas had the authority to pass judgement over people with the authority provided by a Royal decree either Sinhala or English. The older walauwas were neither tiled, very large or highly ornate as the king had placed certain restrictions, mansions replaced the walauwas in the urban areas towards the latter part of the nineteenth century. Though they were referred to as walauwas by the public, the owners usually referred to them with modern names, There are many large mansions of more recent origin which are not walauwas both in the Kandyan and the Low Country areas. This however has changed in the years after independence with the rise of a middle class based on profession. The elites held much power within the political cycles, the most significant change occurred in the 1970s with the socialist style land reforms that were bought into place. This limited private land ownership to fifty acres, and private ownership to two houses. Most families sold off their lands or had taken over by the government
8.
Gamini Fonseka
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Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka was a Sri Lankan film actor, film director and politician. He is widely regarded as the King of Sri Lankan cinema history, Fonseka was born on 21 March 1936 in Dehiwela the third child of William and Daisy Fonseka. Starting school at a Presbyterian institution, Gamini moved on to S. Thomas College, as a youngster, he gained repute for imitating administrative figures at school. Gamini also prospered in the study of the Sinhala language and literature, the award for this achievement was presented to him by S. Thomas graduate and Sri Lankan Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake. Gamini was also a cricket player. Gamini Fonseka married his longtime girlfriend Dorothy Margaret Valencia also known as Tina in 1962 and had four children Chamila, Thanuja, Dammith, many years later he also fathered Kaushalya and Poornima. He remained married to Tina until his death in September 2004, Fonseka abruptly ended his secondary education and dove into the film industry. He originally wanted to be a cameraman and in this line worked as the second Assistant Director on David Leans Bridge on the River Kwai, Fonseka was first on-screen in Rekava as part of a crowd. He also did work on an English television series filmed in Sri Lanka. Fonsekas first credited acting role was in Daiwa Yogaya in which he played a small role, Lester James Peries Sandesaya first established him in a leading role. With films like Adata Wediya Heta Hondai, Ranmuthu Duwa, Getawarayo and Dheevarayo Fonseka achieved popularity, seeking to not play just commercial roles, Fonseka appeared as Jinadasa in the groundbreaking Gamperaliya working again with Peries. In Titus Thotawattes Chandiya, Fonseka played the first anti-hero role in Sri Lankan cinema and in Mike Wilsons Sorungeth Soru, he played the role of Jamis Banda, Fonseka also tried out directing to much accolade. His debut directorial work Parasathu Mal was warmly received and he directed a political satire Sagarayak Meda. The other films that were directed by him include Kotiwaligaya and Nomiyana Minissu. He entered telecinema as well, both films have been recognised with Presidential awards among the 10 best Sri Lankan film. In 1980 Fonseka played Jaffna Tamil clerk Nadarajah in Sunil Ariyaratnes Sarungale and he was elected to Parliament in 1989 as a representative of the Matara District with the highest number of preferential votes and was appointed Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was later appointed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga as Governor of the former North-East Province, Fonseka died at the age of 68 at his residence in Ja ela. Until his death, Fonseka acted on 108 films, where 86 of them as lead actor and 19 more as a supporting actor and he directed 10 films and produced 2 films
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