Veteran politician Dinesh Gunawardena has been appointed as the brand new prime minister of Sri Lanka after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in because the Lanka President. Gunawardena, a former overseas affairs and training minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s authorities, has a powerful India connection and has been vocal about solidifying the island nation’s relationship with India.
WHO IS DINESH GUNAWARDENA
A stalwart of Sri Lankan politics, Gunawardena, 73, was appointed as house minister in April by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. With a comparatively clear picture, Gunawardena has served as a cupboard minister for over 22 years. Throughout his stint in politics, he has publicly argued for having a greater relationship with India.
CLOSE CONFIDANTE OF RAJAPAKSA FAMILY
Dinesh Gunawardena can also be believed to be a detailed confidant of the ousted Rajapaksa household, who confronted nationwide protests over the nation’s worsening financial scenario. Protesters succeeded in eradicating Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, however many need Wickremesinghe and others they see as allies of the household gone too.
LINKS TO INDIA AND INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE
Dinesh Gunawardena’s household additionally has shut hyperlinks to India. His father, Philip Gunawardena, who is called the daddy of socialism in Sri Lanka, was a classmate of Jayaprakash Narayan and VK Krishna Menon on the College of Wisconsin.
Philip Gunawardena advocated for freedom from imperialism and later led the Anti-Imperialist League of India in London.
Philip Gunawardena and his spouse, Kusuma, had reached India after escaping from Sri Lanka (then a British colony, Ceylon) through the Second World Conflict.
They joined the underground activists combating for his or her freedom and have been apprehended by British intelligence, who imprisoned them in a Bombay jail in 1943. After a yr, they have been deported to Sri Lanka.
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