Sri Lanka: S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (1899-1959), Prime Minister of Ceylon (1956-1959).

S.W.R.D. (Solomon West Ridgeway Dias) Bandaranaike (8 January 1899—26 September 1959) was the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka), serving from 1956 until his assassination in 1959.

His assassination by a Buddhist monk shocked the world. Sri Lanka has long been a country associated with Theravada Buddhism and its strong principles of non-violence.

On 25 September 1959, Talduwe Somarama, a Buddhist monk dressed in traditional saffron robes, arrived at Bandaranaike's home in Colombo. Since Somarama was a member of the Buddhist clergy, he was not searched for weapons and given free access to the prime minister as he began his routine meetings with the public. When the monk's presence was intimated to him, the Oxford-educated Bandaranaike greeted him in the traditional Buddhist manner. The assassin then pulled a revolver that had been hidden in his robes, and fired at the Ceylonese prime minister. Bandaranaike was rushed to hospital but died the following day in spite of a six-hour surgery.

Somarama was allegedly involved in a high-level conspiracy, and was known to have strong nationalist sentiments. He was later hanged.

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Old Ceylon,