Crowd Mourns Sri Lanka’s Matriarch

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world’s first female prime minister and the matriarch of Sri Lankan politics, was remembered at a state funeral Saturday with fondness and respect.

Hundreds of mourners stood under the blazing afternoon sun to catch a glimpse of her flower-covered casket as it was carried through the streets in a military procession. The coffin was lowered into the ground after a 19-gun salute.

Though Bandaranaike’s leftist policies were criticized by some for contributing to the country’s social unrest, D. M. Jayaratne, a governing party lawmaker who delivered the funeral oration, said the former premier “won the affection of all religions and races.”

Bandaranaike, 84, died of a heart attack Tuesday, shortly after casting her ballot in the parliamentary election that saw her daughter, President Chandrika Kumaratunga, gain enough seats and supporters to form a new coalition government.

Kumaratunga wants the lawmakers to approve a new constitution giving the minority Tamils greater autonomy as a way to end the 17-year war waged by Tamil Tiger rebels for a homeland.

Bandaranaike had requested a burial instead of the traditional Buddhist cremation, and was buried next to her husband in her ancestral home, Horagolla.