D. A. Rajapaksa

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Don Alwin Rajapaksa (commonly known as D.A. Rajapaksa; born November 05, 1905) was a Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament, who represented the Beliatta electorate in Hambantota district from 1947 to 1965. A founding member of Sri Lanka Freedom Party, he was the father of the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

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[edit] Biography

Don Alwin Rajapaksa was a democratic politician from the Ruhuna region. He advocated the cause of the Ruhuna peasants throughout his career.

He was born on 5th November 1905 in a hamlet called Madamulana and had his early education at Mandaduva School in Weerakatiya. His father, Don David Rajapaksa, who held the post of Vidanaracchi in Ihala Valikada Korale, sent him for secondary education to Richmond College, Galle. Having completed his education successfully, he helped his father to manage the family property which consisted of paddy fields and coconut plantations.

He also helped his elder brother D. M. Rajapaksa, who was the State Councillor for Hambantota in attending to affairs of the electorate. Thus he got sufficient experience in the field of politics, but was reluctant to contest the Hambantota seat at the by-election of 1945 on the death of his brother.

Nevertheless, the politically influential people in the area insisted that he should contest the by-election and were finally successful in dragging him into active politics. He won the seat at the by-election and was included in the Committee on Agriculture and Land in the State Council. This gave him a good opportunity to tackle the problem of landlessness of the peasantry of Giruvapattuva. DA adopted a 99-year lease scheme to transfer crown land to landless peasants in five acre plots. For the middle income earners, the land extending from 10 to 50 acres was alienated in the same manner. These measures in fact gave a boost to the paddy and coconut cultivations in Giruva Pattuva.

When the first parliamentary general elections were held in 1947 under the new constitution, the former Hambantota electorate was divided into two, namely, Beliatta and Tissamaharama electorate. Most of Western Giruva Pattuva was included in the Beliatta electorate. D. A. Rajapaksa contested in Beliatta on the UNP ticket and won the sesat.

When S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, disgruntled over the policies of the United National Party, left the party to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1951, D. A. Rajapaksa followed suit. The Rajapaskas supported Bandaranaike at the general elections of 1952, winning the Beliatta electorate for the SLFP. Later on, in the historic general elections of 1956, D. A. Rajapaksa was elected MP for Beliatta. In 1959 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Lands.

D. A. Rajapaksa's ups and downs in the political arena are follow those of of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party at the time. At the general election of 1960, when the SLFP was defeated and the UNP formed a government, DA too lost his seat. But when the UNP government was dissolved and the parliamentary elections were held for the second time in July of the same year, DA once again emerged victorious at Beliatta and was an inspiration to the government led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

He was appointed Deputy Chairman of Committees in Parliament and subsequently Deputy Speaker. When the SLFP lost to the Dudley Senanayake-led UNP in the 1965 elections, DA again lost his parliamentary seat.

The Rajapaksas were never bent on making money out of politics. On the contrary, they had sacrificed their material wealth for the sake of politics. At the defeat in the 1965 general elections, DA not only lost his political power but was also devoid of material wealth. During this period all his children, Chamal, Mahinda, Basil, Gothabhaya and Dudley were studying in Colombo and he found it difficult to meet their expenses. He sold his vehicle, leased his coconut lands and went through enormous hardships to sustain the family. When he fell seriously ill in November 1967, there wasn't a vehicle nearby to take him to hospital. When transport was arranged belatedly his heart condition had worsened. After admission to hospital, he died November 7, 1967.

D. A. Rajapaksa, through his exemplary political career and through wise counselling by his beloved wife Palatuwe Dandina Dissanayake, has guided his children over pitfalls and over rough terrain which politicians encounter in pursuing their objectives. It is up to Chamal, Mahinda and Basil, who also have taken to politics, to live up to his expectations and maintain the dignity and decorum which their father had cultivated even while being a politician.

[edit] Family

Don David Rajapaksa Vidanarachchi

He held the feudal post of Vidanarachchi in Ihala Valikada Korale, Giruvapattuva in the Hambantota District.

Don M. (D.M.) Rajapaksa

State councilor for Hambantota District

Don Alwin (D.A.) Rajapaksa (1905-1967)

He was one of the founder members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was also a Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a Government Minister.

[edit] Family Tree

1. Don David Rajapaksa Vidanarachchi (feudal post)
1. D.M. Rajapaksa (State Councilor / Senator)
2. Lakshman Rajapaksa (Member of Parliament)
3. George Rajapaksa (Member of Parliament, Cabinet Minister)
4. Nirupama Rajapaksa (Member of Parliament)
2. D.A. Rajapaksa (Member of Parliament, Deputy Minister, Deputy Speaker of Parliament) + Dandina Dissanayake
1. Chamal Rajapaksa (Member of Parliament, Deputy Minister, Cabinet Minister)
2. Jayanthi Rajapaksa
3. Mahinda Rajapaksa (Member of Parliament, Cabinet Minister, Leader of Opposition, Prime Minister, President)
4. Chandra Rajapaksa
5. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (Lieutenant Colonel, Secretary Defence)
6. Basil Rajapaksa (Member of Parliament)
7. Dudley Rajapaksa
8. Preethi Rajapaksa
9. Gandani Rajapaksa

[edit] References