DA Rajapaksa (1905-1967) was a Sri Lankan politician and freedom fighter. He is known to be the father of Sri Lanka’s two presidents, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He died on November 7, 1967 due to a long illness.
Wiki/Biography
Don Alwin Rajapaksa was born on Sunday, March 30, 1905 in Medamulana Walawwa, Belliata, Hambantota District, British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). 62 years old). After completing his early education at Mankadavu School in Weerakatiya, DA Rajapaksa attended Richmond College in Galle, where he completed his higher education. While studying, DA Rajapaksa helped his father cultivate coconut farms and paddy fields.
family
DA Rajapaksa was born into a Catholic family in Malacca.
Parents and siblings
His father, Don David Rajapaksa, was Vidane Arachchi, Ihala Valikada Koralai during colonial Ceylon Korale. His mother, Donna Gimara Ratnayake Weerakon, was a member of an elite family in Upper Beligare. He had three siblings, Don Matthew Rajapaksa, Don Coronalis Rajapaksa and Donna Carolina Bandara Rajapaksa (deceased). Don Coronelis Rajapaksa was a coroner (judicial officer). Don Mathew Rajapaksa was a politician who died in 1945.
wife and children
His wife’s name was Dandina Samarasinghe Dissanayake (deceased).
Photos of DA Rajapaksa and Dandina Rajapaksa
The couple has six sons, Chamal Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, Dudley Rajapaksa and Chandra Tudor Rajapaksa, and three daughters: Gandini Rajapaksa, Jayanthi Rajapaksa and Preethi Rajapaksa. Chamal Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. Mahinda Rajapaksa is the Prime Minister and President of Sri Lanka. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the President of Sri Lanka. Basil Rajapaksa is the former Finance Minister of Sri Lanka. Dudley Rajapaksa is Vice President of QA/RA/Technical Services at Berlin Heart GmbH. Chandra Tudor Rajapaksa passed away in July 2022. Gandini Rajapaksa passed away on May 8, 2017. Jayanti Rajapaksa is a former Member of Parliament and former Deputy Minister of Water Supply and Drainage. Preethi Rajapaksa is a teacher.
Photo of Chamal Rajapaksa (centre) with Gotabaya Rajapaksa (right) and Mahinda Rajapaksa (left)
Basil Rajapaksa poses with Mahinda Rajapaksa (centre) and Gotabaya Rajapaksa (right)
Photos of Dudley Rajapaksa
Photos of Chandra Tudor Rajapaksa
religion
DA Rajapaksa was a Catholic; however, the Rajapaksa family later converted to Buddhism for political reasons.
freedom fighter
DA Rajapaksa and his brother DM Rajapaksa participated in many anti-British movements. DA Rajapaksa and his brothers participated in the Suriya-Mal movement that started on November 11, 1933.
Profession
politics
DA Rajapaksa’s association with politics began when he helped his brother Don Mathew Rajapaksa campaign extensively in the 1936 State Council elections in Hambantota, which Don Mathew won. After Don Mathieu died of a heart attack in 1945, the people of Hambantota asked DA Rajapaksa to fill his brother’s State Department post, and Rajapaksa subsequently ran from the Hambantota electorate in Sri Lanka’s 1945 by-elections. and win. District Attorney Rajapaksa reportedly won the State Council seat unopposed as no one contested the election for the Hambantota constituency out of respect for Don Mathew Rajapaksa. After entering the State Council on August 8, 1945, DA Rajapaksa became a member of the Agriculture and Land Executive Committee. In 1947, he ran as the candidate of the United National Party (UNP) from Beliyata constituency (Hambantota constituency is divided into Beliyata constituency and Tissemaharama constituency) with a margin of 8,022 votes. Parliamentary elections and won. On July 12, 1951, DA Rajapaksa and SWRD Bandaranaike left the UNP and formed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on September 2, 1951. In the 1952 Ceylon Assembly elections, the SLFP won only 9 seats, of which DA Rajapaksa won 1 seat. In the 1952 Assembly elections, DA Rajapaksa contested from Beliatta constituency and won by a margin of 17,382 votes. In 1956, he contested the Ceylon general election and won the Beliatta electorate by a margin of 15,335 votes, and was subsequently appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Lands and Land Development. Later, DA Rajapaksa was appointed as Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce, but he declined and the post was replaced by his nephew Lakshman Rajapaksa. However, after the people of Hambantota, led by lawyer Wickramasuriya, protested against Rajapaksa’s decision not to accept a ministerial appointment in the government, Rajapaksa had to take up the post of Ministry of Land, Irrigation and Agriculture Deputy Minister. As Deputy Minister of Lands, Irrigation and Agriculture, DA Rajapaksa worked to resolve the problems of farmers who lost their land after Sri Lanka’s independence from British rule in 1948. He adopted a policy whereby the landless, low-income group as part of his electorate, farmers in Giruwapatua were given 2 hectares (5 acres) of land on a 99-year lease, with middle-income Farmers received 99-year leases on land ranging from 4 to 20.2 hectares (10 to 50 acres). His policies increased the productivity of rice and coconut in Sri Lanka. As Deputy Minister, he supported the implementation of the Paddy Act and made it a success. He further implemented policies aimed at increasing the productivity of citrus fruits in less developed areas of Sri Lanka. In 1959, DA Rajapaksa was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Lands by the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Wijeyananda Dahanayake. However, he resigned two weeks later as Dahanayake sacked the minister. In March 1960, in the Sri Lankan parliamentary election, Rajapaksa of the Democratic Alliance was defeated by Atapattu of the United National Party and Democratic Party; however, in July 1960, a re-election was held after the collapse of the Sri Lankan government led by the United National Party. In the election, DA Rajapaksa won from Beliatta constituency with a margin of 20,871 votes. In July 1960, when SWRD Bandaranaike’s wife Sirimavo Bandaranaike became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, DA Rajapaksa was appointed to the cabinet; however, DA Rajapaksa declined the offer, telling her that he preferred to live in his Residence, not official residence “Mumtaz Mahal”. After the death of AMA Adhikari on November 6, 1962, DA Rajapaksa was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Commission. In January 1964, he succeeded Hugh Fernando as Deputy Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. He served as Deputy Speaker of Parliament until the 1965 Sri Lankan general election when he was defeated by the UNP candidate DP Atapattu in the Belliata constituency.
After losing the 1965 election
After DA Rajapaksa lost the general election in 1965, he not only lost his seat in the Sri Lankan Parliament but also the money he had earned. According to some sources, DA Rajapaksa had to sell his car and rent his farmland to meet the daily needs of his family.
die
DA Rajapaksa died on November 7, 1967, after a long battle with illness. According to reports, since DA Rajapaksa sold his vehicle, he could not be taken to the hospital on time and by the time a vehicle was arranged, his condition had deteriorated. He breathed his last in a hospital in Sri Lanka.
Facts/Trivia
- He is also known as Buddhayagama Podi Ralahami and the brave son of Ruhuna.
- While studying at Richmond College, DA Rajapaksa was not only the captain of the school’s rugby team, but also the vice-captain of the school’s cricket team.
- [In1945beforehisdeathDonMathewRajapaksagavehispersonalbelongingstoDARajapaksaincluding18centsandapen[1945年，唐·马修·拉贾帕克萨(DonMathewRajapaksa)去世前，将自己的个人物品交给了DARajapaksa，其中包括18美分和一支钢笔。
- DA Rajapaksa wrote an article titled Katata Rahata Kurakkan for the Sinhala newspaper Silumina on February 19, 1961, in which he talked about his family, Kurakkan (a form of millet) and folk poetry.
- After winning the election in July 1960, DA Rajapaksa accepted a bribe of 50,000 rupees to leave the SLFP so that the coalition government would collapse in Parliament, but he refused to accept the bribe despite his poor financial situation.
- On November 6, 2014, Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the DA Rajapaksa Memorial Museum; however, in May 2022, during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, angry protesters not only destroyed the monument but also destroyed the Rajapaksa Memorial Museum. The ancestral home of the Sa family.
DA Rajapaksa statue damaged
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education