12 December, 2024

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When A Dynasty Read The Future

By Nirupama Subramanian

 Nirupama Subramanian

Nirupama Subramanian

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the former President of Sri Lanka, has among her photographs a collector’s item taken when she was an 11-year-old girl. Crowded into the frame are no less than five South Asian Prime Ministers who served at different times over five decades in the 20th Century: her father S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike, herself (she was Prime Minister before she went on to win the presidential election in 1994), Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. There might have been six Prime Ministers in that photograph had Mrs. Gandhi taken her son Rajiv along on that visit to Colombo in 1956.

Another scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family is now preparing to lead his party into an electoral battle that could see him become the fourth Indian Prime Minister from his family. The waves of doubt about his suitability for the top job crash hopelessly on a rock called There Is No Alternative. Indeed, if there is an alternative, that too is believed to exist in the same family.

Read more in the Hindu

Chandrika Sonia

 

Photo credit the Hindu

Latest comments

  • 2
    0

    .
    Always you need a powerful brother on your side….

    Chandrika’s brother Anura

    Mahinda’s brother Gota

    Now you know the difference!

    :-)

  • 4
    3

    Dear Nirupama Subramanian,

    Yes, the elders of the Dynasties want continuation.

    In Sri Lanka, we had D S Senanayaka, Dudley Senanayaka, SWRD and Srima Bandaranoike, Their daughter Chrika.

    And Now Rajapasks dynasty is being groomed in Lanka.

    All used Sinhala Monk Mahanama Buddhism to come to power and stay in power.

    There was no room for socialists and egalitarians in this arrangement.

  • 3
    8

    All my blessings to Mrs chandrika Badaranaike

  • 17
    2

    I have never read such bull in my life!

    CBK did not gracefully ‘leave’ politics as Nirupama tries to make out in a puff piece for her subject! She was forced to leave because she had lost her credibility after all the antics that she was up to during her term in office! Expectations were high for her, unlike in the case of MR. She was the last Sri Lankan leader who got such a huge mandate from the people to bring back peace. But what did she do?

    Indiscipline, insecurity and idiocy! The three ‘I’s that dominated the CBK term! She hunted and harassed journalists condoned disappearances and installed that judicial power hungry sick man Silva as Chief Justice! After her ravages, MR found it easy to do far worse!

    And there you have CBK’s Story! Nirupama, shame on you! Get your facts right!

  • 14
    1

    Well said, Chandra!

    Just like JRJ made political manipulations the norm,
    Chandrika lowered standards to such a level that the Rajapakses were held to no standard!

    Does’nt hurt to have an illiterate and lazy electorate too.

  • 13
    3

    Ha ha Ho ho!
    Chandrika who planned the billata denda of Vijaya seeing the clout the kussi amma mother had.

    Chandrika with Sonia the woman who washed plates at Cambridge restaurant seduced the moron Rajiv who did not pass Cambridge like his brother.

    Sonia lied to Indian parliament that she was an English Honours graduate from Cambridge and when Cambridge sent out a letter that there was no such student in the first place she backed off fearing Sushima the New Delhi Graduate and former student leader.

    Then she sent her son who had not passed either on a fictitious name saying Singh Punjabi terrorist may assassinate him- he never passed even with that fictitious name.

    How about the gun trotting goon son-in-law Robert Varda?
    Chandrika the shooting shopping woman missed [Edited out] CJ Silva to cling on to presidency.

    Chandrika’s London [Edited out]

    This Subramani[Edited out]

    Looking at Sonia and her offspring Hookers would do a better job than ala battala.

  • 2
    2

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/

    • 0
      10

      What your purpose of attacking these female figures in this way.. what can you achieve by that ?

      • 10
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        @Babanis
        Get your facts straight. Nirupama Subramany was not attacking the ex Cambridge dishwasher nor the daughter of Bathalawathy and the communalist Nari Banda. Instead, she was only salivating on how Lady Fortune had smiled on these useless women.

    • 0
      10

      Javi – you have a sick mind – get some help – wonder what’s behind all this anger

      • 9
        0

        Dawn Dale, the climate these days does some funny things to some people that they think others are sick in the mind. Darling, go take a nice bath and cool off some of your heat.

      • 8
        0

        “Javi – you have a sick mind – get some help – wonder”

        Deaf and Dumb pls take your pills- lithium then your brains glows with self respect.
        If you have respect for woman, your mum, sis, niece then you won’t have a question like your ill found. You never get Horney when you see the 2 because its ala battala puss posh lies. While when you see Claudia Schiffer, you and the world goes Horney but you are secretive about it like the Arabs/ Bin larden who have many wives. However Claudia is all self-respect of an educated woman.
        _____________

        Schiffer is what the world calls Aryan blue eyes blonde German. It’s on ITV UK tonight.

        Published: 12:17am, 28th February 2014
        Updated: 5:47am, 1st March 2014

        Claudia Schiffer has told how she was once offered a million pounds simply to attend a dinner date with a wealthy prince.

        The German supermodel – married to Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn – said it was one of the weirdest proposals she has received during her years in the public eye as one of the world’s most in-demand beauties.

        She discussed the megabucks offer – which she rejected – during an interview for the Jonathan Ross Show on ITV, to be screened on Saturday.

        Asked about her oddest offers of work, she said: “Loads of weird ones but the strangest one was from an Arab prince. He asked if he could hire me for a dinner for a million pounds. I declined.”

        The 43-year-old also disclosed how she felt uncomfortable with the term “supermodel”, which was used to describe the catwalk queens of her generation such as Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Elle Macpherson.

      • 7
        0

        “”Javi – you have a sick mind – get some help””

        DD need help to think poor bas**t..

        If you have respect for woman, your mum, sis, niece then you won’t have a question like your ill found. You never get Horney when you see the 2 because its ala battala puss posh lies. While when you see Claudia Schiffer, you and the world goes Horney but you are secretive about it like the Arabs/ Bin larden who have many wives. However Claudia is all self-respect of an educated woman.
        She is what the world calls Aryan not Indian. It’s on ITV UK tonight.
        Published: 12:17am, 28th February 2014
        Updated: 5:47am, 1st March 2014
        Claudia Schiffer has told how she was once offered a million pounds simply to attend a dinner date with a wealthy prince.
        The German supermodel – married to Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn – said it was one of the weirdest proposals she has received during her years in the public eye as one of the world’s most in-demand beauties.
        She discussed the megabucks offer – which she rejected – during an interview for the Jonathan Ross Show on ITV, to be screened on Saturday.
        Asked about her oddest offers of work, she said: “Loads of weird ones but the strangest one was from an Arab prince. He asked if he could hire me for a dinner for a million pounds. I declined.”
        The 43-year-old also disclosed how she felt uncomfortable with the term “supermodel”, which was used to describe the catwalk queens of her generation such as Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Elle Macpherson.

        • 0
          6

          after that rant – I rest my case – get some urgent help pls

          • 6
            0

            “”after that rant – I rest my case””

            Ai Ai Aiyooo, Rest In Peace, (^O^)

  • 0
    0

    Alas the abrupt STOP to the Bandaranaike “dynasty” for want of an ‘alternative’###

  • 1
    2

    The dynastic factor is unavoidable and inescapable in the modern political landscape. It was earlier believed it was only the developing countries that suffers this weakness. Name-identity or recognition is a winning factor in today’s world dominated by TV and I/T. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, the Phillipines, Indonesia have all gone through this phase. That includes developing countries in the region and Continent – Singapore, South Korea and Japan – who have all contributed to the issue.

    It is not to say the developed countries have a different story to tell. The Bush family in the USA produced 2 Presidents and can still produce one more. If Hillary Clinton successfully contests in 2016 that may not be the last of the Clinton role in American Presidential politics. Young Chelsea shows interest in following her illustrious parents. Young Justin Trudeau in Canada is doing his bit to emulate his late father and is now a frontliner in the alternate-government Liberal Party. There may be many more examples in both the developed and developing countries. I refer here only to countries wedded to the democratic tradition.

    Senguttuvan

  • 6
    0

    She as leader of party of SLFP, Head of state, and leader of government should undertake her mismanagement and irresponsibility for misrule of our nation over 11 years since 1994 to 2004 by CBK.
    The crux of matter NOT her to come back to power again, that she has take accountability of her grave mistake by rule and ruin of people of Sri lanka.
    CBK do not take responsibility and always cowardly hide her all ill-mission launch during in democracy has been always being kicked down the road instability and underdevelopment. If we look more carefully at overall policies performance of current democracies by CBK, which we in fact see enormous failure. Such dynasty having no mission to be accomplished by regain Sri lanka next term by CBK.

  • 2
    0

    CBK lived in France. Yet, did she earned a Degree from Sorbonne, None. She may have followed some secondary courses.

    We expect a lot from that kind of idiots. Their only qualification was their mother and farther were the prime ministers of the Post Colonial sinhale.

  • 0
    0

    Her excellency chandrika kumarathunga did serve her two terms and Left peacefully. people of sri lanka always remember her for the smooth transformation to his excellency the president ( currect ) mr Rajapaksha.

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