New President’s mother recalls humble beginnings of her son-by Anthony David

The road to presidency by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the country’s ninth executive president, has not been a bed of roses, unlike his predecessors.

At 86, the President’s mother D.M. Seelawathi had difficulty expressing herself and has to be helped by her 62-year-old daughter. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara

The humble beginnings and the hardships were many. “Once the custodian of a Buddhist temple asked me to release him to be ordained. He was then 12 years old. I did not agree,” recalls his mother, D.M. Seelawathi. Years later, her son Anura could not attend his father’s funeral. Police and the troops were waiting at home to arrest him, she revealed.

Once I took Anura to an astrologer when he was about six months old to have his horoscope read, and with a stunned face, he told me that my son would be ‘king’ one day.”

At 86, she had considerable difficulty expressing herself and had to be helped by her 62-year-old daughter, D.M. Sriyalatha.

I met her in a modest house developed under the Mahaweli H system in the Kalawewa electorate. They had shifted there in 1972. It is a ten-minute drive from the farming town of Tambuttegama (25 kilometres from Anuradhapura) off a rugged road. It passes a playground. The grass in the middle has worn out after cricket invaded the sleepy village. It shows in the pitch. Next is a Buddhist temple. A few minutes’ drive later, is the home protected by barbed wire. There are signs that repairs have been carried out with new roofing sheets on one side.

Daughter Sriyalatha escorted her mother to an armchair in the living room. In front of it lay a television set. “She watches the news in the night. Every time my brother appears, she asks, ‘eya magey putha da’ (or is that my son?). She dotes over him,” said Sriyalatha. “In return, my brother Anura, too, is very fond of her. Whenever he is in this part of the country, he visits us.”

The mother recalled President Dissanayake’s younger days. He would play with kites. His other daily preoccupation was swimming, which he excelled at. Every day, he would go to the nearby Nalachchiya tank, a five-minute walk from home, for a swim. On a more serious side, she disclosed that her son Anura was a voracious reader. “Books were like food to him. There was an araliya tree opposite our house. He would climb it, perch himself on a branch, and read aloud a book,” she said whilst smiling. “He always needed a book or a newspaper when we sat at the table for a meal. I never had to ask him to study. He would always do that on his own,” she recalled.

D.M. Sriyalatha: The President’s sister

“Anura’s father or my husband,” Ms. Seelawathie said, “worked at the Surveyor General’s Department. He passed away in 1992. That was the most difficult time for us. This heightened Anura’s resolve to keep going on the journey he embarked on,” said Ms. Seelawathie.

According to his mother, Anura’s interest in politics grew when he was doing his GCE Advanced Level examination. Then he faced death threats. His father’s brother, with whom he closely associated, was murdered. “I am both happy and proud about where my son is today,” she declared.

“My son,” she said, “is not a liar or fraudster. He gets angry when he hears stories about such activity. My prayer is to go to sacred places in Anuradhapura to invoke blessings for my son. He has come from humble beginnings.”

Those humble beginnings were reflected in events related to President Dissanayake assuming office and even before. During the election campaign, a lesser-known fact is how he slept in his car. It was late when a meeting ended, and another was beginning within hours. His swearing-in was without much fanfare. There were no police horses, dancing troupes, Jaya Mangala Gathas, red carpets, or honour guards. Those are truly the hallmarks of a people’s president.