Another Battle For Mrs Bandaranaike Of Ceylon

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30559, 30 September 1964, Page 2

Another Battle For Mrs Bandaranaike Of Ceylon

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SUSAN VAUGHAN]

Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world’s first and onlywoman Prime Minister, came to power in Ceylon in the most troubled circumstances. Her husband, the previous Prime Minister. was assassinated and Mrs Bandaranaike was swept to office by a wave of indignation over the murder. It is fair to say that in the four years since she took over there has been hardly a peaceful moment.

Mrs Bandaranaike found many battles to fight and she refused to shirk one of them. She fought with the Protestant and Catholic Churches whom, she said, were spreading their influence at the expense of the Buddhist Church. She criticised the West for its “rapacious designs” on Asia and she rapped China for attacking India. Among her people she is both adored and hated; mere acceptance is rare.

Several times she has nearly lost her job. One con-i spiracy by a group of army officers who planned to force, her at gun-point to resign,-w-as only forestalled at the l last moment. The latest trouble she has become involved in is, by. comparison, small. Yet, be-' cause her integrity has been | questioned (for the first' ■ time), it could be the tough-■ est fight of all. It concerns her 19-year-old daughter Chanidrika, who plans to begin studies at Somerville College, Oxford, [when the new term starts 'next month. i Ceylon’s strict currency re1 strictions prevent students j studying abroad unless the Government is satisfied that they could not obtain an i equivalent education at home.: Chandrika’s chosen subjects' —political science and philo-. sophy—are provided for at Colombo University, of which J she is already a graduate. Questions have been raised in the Senate, suggesting that should Chandrika study in England, she would be receiving preferential treatment Retiring Wife Mrs Bandaranaike is ex-i tremely devoted to her child-j ren (apart from Chandrika. there is another daughter and la son). While her husband jwas alive she had little to do with politics. She was the retiring wife, the diginified daughter of a rich feudal family. She occupied herself with good works for the women of Ceylon. She was interested in village life and handicrafts. She tended her husband’s greyhounds. She dabbled in astrology (and. like many ’Eastern people of power, still does). | The formal life of the political head of state still comes (strange to her. In the middle of an international conference 'she will subconsciously do

something utterly feminine, like slipping off her shoes to ease her feet. Family Matter It is not surprising that she regards the case of Chandrika’s education as a family matter, and apart from the demands of State. I hope she overcomes the problem. The world needs more political women. As Mrs Bandaranaike has said: “Being Prime Minister has given me a feeling of anxiety and trepidation. If I fail in my office I should be letting down womankind. There is no responsibility which women cannot shoulder equally with men.” [ (All Rights Reserved)