“A Yasapalitha Production… A Feast of Entertainment” was the promotional slogan used for films directed by Yasapalitha Nanayakkara, the father of the current Justice Minister, Harshana Nanayakkara.
The Nanayakkara family came from a wealthy plantation-owning family in Galle. Yasapalitha’s father, Francis Nanayakkara, was a successful businessman who owned wholesale trading, transport and plantation companies. He had four sons, including Yasapalitha, Hemakumara Nanayakkara and Vasudeva Nanayakkara.
The family traditionally supported the United National Party (UNP). At the time, most wealthy plantation owners and transport business owners were UNP supporters. However, it became fashionable among the sons of wealthy families to embrace left-wing politics. While their father remained a loyal UNP supporter, Yasapalitha, Hemakumara and Vasudeva all chose left-wing politics.
Yasapalitha entered the film industry in the 1960s by producing Vasanthi. In 1973, he directed Thushara, which broke Sri Lankan box office records.
At the same time, his brother Vasudeva entered Parliament after winning the 1970 general election as a candidate of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). By then, Vasudeva had become a radical left-wing politician, while Yasapalitha had become one of Sri Lanka’s most popular film directors.
Yasapalitha’s close friendship with actor Vijaya Kumaratunga began after Thushara turned Vijaya into a major box office star. Although Vijaya first entered politics through the UNP, he joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) before the 1977 general election. As he became active in politics, he also drew many of his friends from the film industry into political life. Yasapalitha entered politics mainly because of Vijaya, rather than because of his brother Vasudeva.
After becoming an MP in 1970, Vasudeva broke away from the LSSP following disagreements over the government’s suppression of the 1971 JVP insurrection. He believed the United Front government’s actions were wrong.
He and several others left the LSSP to form the New Sama Samaja Party (NSSP). They publicly protested against Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s government, even presenting a funeral wreath in Parliament as a symbolic protest. However, the NSSP was defeated at the 1977 general election.
Later, Vasudeva joined Vijaya Kumaratunga’s efforts to build a broad left-wing alliance led by the SLFP. Although Vasudeva contested the 1982 presidential election as the NSSP candidate, he secured only about 17,000 votes.
After Vijaya left the SLFP, both Vasudeva and Yasapalitha became his close political allies.
Following the 1983 Black July riots, President J.R. Jayewardene’s government banned both the JVP and Vasudeva’s NSSP. Despite this, they secretly supported Vijaya and Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Mahajana Party.
When the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed in 1987, the Mahajana Party, the LSSP, the Communist Party and Vasudeva’s group formed the United Socialist Alliance and backed the agreement. This brought them into direct confrontation with the JVP.
During this period, Yasapalitha and his family, including his children and his brother Vasudeva, lived under constant threat after the JVP reportedly branded supporters of the Accord as traitors. Vasudeva and Yasapalitha even obtained weapons from the government and organised armed groups to defend themselves against the JVP.
The assassination of Vijaya Kumaratunga left Yasapalitha and Vasudeva politically isolated.
Their brother Hemakumara then entered active politics. At the 1989 general election, Vasudeva contested under the United Socialist Alliance, while Hemakumara contested as an SLFP candidate. Both were elected to Parliament.
During this period, Vasudeva and Mahinda Rajapaksa travelled to Geneva to raise concerns about the treatment of families affected during the suppression of the JVP under the Jayewardene and Premadasa governments.
As Chandrika Kumaratunga emerged as the SLFP’s future leader in 1994, Vasudeva joined her and was elected to Parliament under the People’s Alliance.
Meanwhile, Hemakumara and Yasapalitha sided with Anura Bandaranaike and eventually joined the UNP. Hemakumara became a UNP MP.
However, Vasudeva later left Chandrika’s government, opposing her open economic policies and privatisation programme.
By the time Mahinda Rajapaksa became President in 2005, Yasapalitha had passed away.
Vasudeva joined Mahinda’s camp, while Hemakumara remained with the UNP.
In 2007, when 17 UNP MPs crossed over to support Mahinda, Hemakumara also joined the government and became a minister.
Vasudeva, meanwhile, unsuccessfully contested the Colombo Municipal Council election under the SLFP and later returned to Parliament in 2010. Hemakumara instead served as one of Mahinda’s advisers.
In the 2015 presidential election, Vasudeva supported Mahinda Rajapaksa, while Hemakumara backed Maithripala Sirisena and was later appointed a governor following Sirisena’s victory.
After Mahinda’s defeat, Vasudeva played a key role—alongside Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila and Dinesh Gunawardena—in rebuilding Mahinda’s political movement.
By the 2019 presidential election, both Vasudeva and Hemakumara supported Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
While his father and uncles were deeply involved in politics, Harshana Nanayakkara was still a child.
Yasapalitha wanted his son to become a film star. Harshana first appeared as a child actor in Age Adara Kathawen, one of his father’s films. He later starred opposite Sangeetha Weeraratne in Yasasa. However, his acting career was not successful.
Instead, Harshana entered politics through the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance led by the JVP.
It is one of the ironies of Sri Lankan politics that the JVP has entrusted the Justice Ministry to a member of a family that once waged a bitter political struggle against the party because of its ideology. Vasudeva Nanayakkara, who had a long-standing political rivalry with the JVP, is now praising the government in which his nephew serves. Hemakumara Nanayakkara stepped away from politics to make way for his son. Even former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, who became part of the family through his son’s marriage to Vasudeva’s daughter, is now speaking positively about the government in which his relative serves as Justice Minister.
Recently, Harshana Nanayakkara, the political heir of the Nanayakkara family, faced a no-confidence motion over his alleged failure, as Justice Minister, to handle the prison unrest. Ironically, the very JVP that was once accused of seeking to eliminate his father and uncle has now rallied to protect the son from that no-confidence motion.
Many people believed that dynastic politics in Sri Lanka had come to an end. Yet the Nanayakkaras have managed to persuade the very JVP—which came to power promising to end family politics—to create a new political heir of its own.
