Don Stephen Senanayake

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D.S. Senanayake

Don Stephen Senanayake (October 20, 1884–22 March 1952) was an independence activist who formed the Sri Lankan United National Party. He became the first Prime Minister of what was then Ceylon (later called Sri Lanka) from 1947 to 1952.

Brought up in a devout Buddhist family, he entered a Christian school on his father's orders, and converted to Christianity. An intelligent student, he quickly found work in the Surveyor General's office before working as a supervisor on his father's plantation.

He entered politics at the age of thirty-eight, and in 1931 became Minister of Agriculture and Lands. He combatted Sri Lanka's agricultural problems effectively, and established the LDO, an agricultural policy that countered Sri Lanka's rice problems. This policy earned him respect, and he continued to be a minister for fifteen years. He also enforced "Agricultural Modernisation", which increased production output. However, he resigned in 1946 and fought for Sri Lanka's independence. In only a year he succeeded, and was elected as Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister. He refused a knighthood, but maintained good relations with Britain. He boldly made plans to spread out the population, and his Gal Oya scheme relocated over 250,000 people. His other plans included the increase of hydroelectric power, but he was killed in an unexpected horse-riding accident at the age of sixty-eight.

His son, Dudley Shelton Senanayake (1911–1973), succeeded him as Prime Minister in 1952, followed by another relative, Sir John Kotelawala (1897–1980) in 1953, but this nine-year family dynasty was ended by a landslide victory for Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike in 1956, campaigning under the "Sinhala Only" slogan. Dudley Senanayake regained the Prime Ministership in 1960, and again from 1965 to 1970.

D.S Senanayake is respected by Sinhalese and some Muslims. However, Tamils were not happy with his citizenship laws that disenfanchised virtually all Tamils of recent Indian origin living in the central highlands. His bold agricultural plans and pro-Western policies, however, attracted criticism for their modern and untraditional nature. Under his family's leadership, Sri Lanka's economy flourished, and D.S. Senanayake is still known as "The Father of Sri Lanka". He was however later linked to the Church of Scientology, and theories exist suggesting that his death was far more sinister than first thought. ^{[citation needed]}