“It was Mrs. Bandaranaike who was able, through sheer strength of character, to forge and hold together a United Front of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the two traditional left parties – the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Trotskyist) and the Communist Party – and thereby make possible the defeat of the conservative United National Party who had staged a come-back  (1965-1970). The situation was thus open for a real socialist advance.

In some respects, a promising start was made in the first few months. A State Trading Corporation was set up, the reform of the Cooperative Societies were taken in hand, plans were being drawn for a new Constitution on radical lines, and a substantial amount of money was set apart for creating employment.

But, on the other hand, a terrible rot set in right from the very beginning. No sooner were the elections over than frantic transfers of government servants, mostly teachers, were the order of the day — partly writing previous wrongs, partly revenge, and partly rewarding favourites. As a result,  some schools became over-staffed and others under-staffed — in some cases the situation was ludicrous. The children certainly suffered. Then, the first set of 2500 appointments for unemployed graduates were given on the basis of lists provided by M.Ps., and not on merit. The M.P’s certificate became the sine qua non for employment. Jobbery and nepotism made things worse.

Originally, it had been necessary, in the interest of justice, that the domination of privileged interests through the bureaucracy should be broken by political intervention. In the process, political intervention was resorted to for party and personal ends. Gradually political interference became the order of the day. It reached extreme proportions in the period of 1965 to 1970. The period following the 1970 election was a violent reaction to what preceded. M.P.s and Ministers seemed powerless to resist these pressures. Certain wrongs were righted. But new injustices perpetrated. The people’s confidence in the government was fairly severely shaken by this kind of thing. Matters were further aggravated by the sudden compulsory retirement of government servants over 55 years. This affected whole families, and the government ignored protests from various associations all over the country.”

An excerpt from Violent Lanka: The Day of Slaughter, by Yohan Devananda. Published by Devasaranaramaya, Ibbagamuva, N.W.P., Sri Lanka, 1972