By PK Balachandran The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, on Saturday gave a clarion call for a people’s movement to raise issues pertaining to the Tamil people and thereby strengthen the hands of their elected representatives. Speaking at the “Ezhuga Tamizh” (Tamils Arise) rally at Jaffna, Wigneswaran said that the …
By P.K.Balachandran The Tamil Peoples’ Council’s call for an “Ezhuga Tamizh” (Tamils Arise) rally and a general strike in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces on Saturday, will test the support base of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the dominant party in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The Tamil Peoples’ Council (TPC), which …
By Dharisha Bastians The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on Thursday denied an opposition motion requesting Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran to intervene in the Uduvil Girls’ College crisis, where students and parents have been protesting against the appointment of a new principal for the school. The Uduvil school crisis was raised at the NPC just hours …
By Rajan Hoole After nightfall on 21st September 1989, Rajasingam Master called on his bicycle at my mother’s home quite unexpectedly and delivered his pithy message, “Rajini has been shot.” His voice showed no evident emotion. After a brief exchange of words, he turned back. He was stoic, incorruptible, who lived by his strong sense …
By Paneetha Ameresekere The IMF’s second tranche of US$ 168.1 million will not be disbursed until the enhancement in the VAT rate is authorized by Parliament. This was indicated to reporters by IMF’s Mission Chief to Sri Lanka Jaewoo Lee at a media conference in Colombo yesterday. Government’s bid to increase the VAT rate by …
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) says that the proposed amendment to Criminal Procedure Code will severely undermine constitutionally guaranteed rights of people. A senior spokesperson for the HRCSL told The Island that the proposed amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure Act was meant to deprive suspects access to lawyers until their …
By Dharisha Bastians Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has urged Tamil people to participate in a demonstration scheduled in Jaffna tomorrow, to oppose the systematic settlement of Sinhalese people in the Tamil dominated region and the erection of Buddhist statues in an area devoid of Buddhist devotees. “Tamil speaking brothers and sisters, I urge …
By Kushan Subasinghe Parliament was told yesterday that the ruling UNP-led coalition had given major tax rebates to Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS) under investigation by different agencies, including the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). The revelation was made by JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene assured …
By Dharisha Bastians Head of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI), Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah has promised an impartial inquiry into allegations of attacks against students demanding an extension of service for a retiring headmistress at an elite girl’s school in Jaffna. The Uduvil Girls’ College, a private school managed by the …
By Saman Indrajith in New York President Maithripala Sirisena declared at the UNGA on Thursday that the on-going reconciliation process would guarantee that Sri Lanka wouldn’t have to face war and terrorism again. The President called for international collaboration and blessings for the on-going Sri Lankan effort. The President was addressing the 71st session of …
BRUSSELS: A top EU lawyer on Thursday said Islamist movement Hamas and Sri Lankan rebel group LTTE should be taken off the bloc’s terror list because procedural mistakes invalidated the decision to put them on it. The European Union imposed travel bans and asset freezes against Hamas and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam under …
Rural Development Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka yesterday caused furore in by using unparliamentary language when he spoke of former President and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa, MP Namal Rajapaksa, MP Wimal Weerawansa, MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe. Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala directed that certain statements made by Minister Fonseka be expunged. The former Army …
By Chitra Weerarathne The Colombo High Court Judge, Padmini N. Ranawaka Gunetillake, yesterday served indictment on UNP member of Parliament for Colombo District, Hirunika Premachandra and eight others. The Attorney General had filed indictment in the High Court accusing Premachandra and others of abduction and assault of a youth, on December 21, 2015, at Dematagoda. …
By Shamindra Ferdinando A member of the anti-corruption parliamentary watchdog committee, UPFA MP Weerakumara Dissanayake yesterday alleged that there was an ongoing move to categorize a large stock of rice declared unfit for human consumption under questionable circumstances as animal feed. MP Dissanayake claimed that it was being done so as to sell the stock …
By Bandula Jayasekara Though I had heard of Ajith Boyagoda as the Navy officer who was held in captivity by the LTTE terrorists for eight years, I only met him recently. First, when he walked into the News 1st office to hand over his book ‘A Long Watch – War, Captivity and Return in Sri …
By Madushka Balasuriya The Indian Government yesterday sought to reassure Sri Lanka that India’s burgeoning investment on developing its ports will pose no threat to the Port of Colombo, noting they have urged Indian companies to invest in the expansion of the Colombo Harbour. “There is a fear that once India develops its infrastructures and, …
By Ahilan Kadirgamar On September 21, 2013, tens of thousands of Tamils living in Sri Lanka’s heavily-militarised North decisively voted in the long-delayed provincial elections. They had waited for two and a half decades to make their voices heard and elect their own government. Despite the promise of development and election handouts from then President …
By Meera Srinivasan India and Sri Lanka will jointly operate 30 oil tanks in Trincomalee, kick-starting a plan to develop the coastal town into a regional petroleum hub, Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Minister Chandima Weerakkody said. He was referring to a proposal that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during his March 2015 visit to the island-nation, …
By P.K.Balachandran Doctors at the government hospitals in the five districts of the Northern Province have, in the past three weeks, examined 96 former cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) following allegations by Tamil politicians that Tiger combatants who had surrendered to the Sri Lanka army at the end of Eelam War …
By Dharisha Bastians As parents associations continued to push for the reinstatement of retired principal Shiranee Mills at Uduvil Girls’ College (UGC), TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran broke his silence on the controversy surrounding the elite Christian girls’ school in Jaffna last weekend, denying allegations of interference the thorny issue and claiming that the crisis was …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Former General Officer Commanding (GoC) of 53 Division Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne has urged the government to stop rapid deterioration of the country’s premier intelligence service, the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI). Gajaba Regiment veteran Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said the country would have to pay a very heavy price unless the ongoing …
By Dr Tilak Siyambalapitiya Nobody wanted the power plant in Norochcholai except the power system planners who were determined to ensure the country got its electricity at the lowest possible cost. With their knowledge of what exactly was happening with power generation in other countries, they knew the only way to rescue the power sector …
by Somapala Gunadheera I read The Island editorial of September 16, 2016, on the above caption, with avid interest. It was characteristically forthright and impartial. The discerning would find it as a whistleblower to those in power. The editorial made the undeniable assumptions that the public perception was that bribery and corruption were rampant under …
By Uditha Devapriya He was a vocalist and a composer. He sang and he scored. He also wrote. His melodies survive reassessments when it comes to applauding him. The man, not surprisingly therefore, wielded different sensibilities and abilities. And in the end, music lovers in this country understood, despite the few who called him out …
By Channa Bandara WIJEKOON When cinema was flourishing in this country in the pre-separatist war era films starred by Gamini Fonseka and Vijeya Kumaratunga were shown in packed houses in the North. Even a Sri Lankan Tamil film genre was active in the peninsula at the time. This golden era saw cultural events of the …
By Vishwamithra “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” ~Henry Ford One does not have to look anywhere else. Daily headlines in the mainstream newspapers have been telling a most riveting story. Political winds have been blowing in opposite directions as far …
Former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged the government to amend the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill as those struggling to make ends meet had been deprived of promised relief. The follwing is the text of the statement issued by former President’s Office: “A Bill to increase the currently applicable VAT rate …
By Aparna M Sridhar (This is the birth centenary year of India’s renowned classical music singer M. S. Subbulakshmi who was born on September 16th 1916. Much activity is on in various parts of India and the world to celebrate the centenary of “MS” who was praised as the Queen of Song by India’s first …
Continue reading ‘M.S.Subbulakshmi: A Voice for all Seasons’ »
By Risidra Mendis For most of us, the Dehiwala Zoo is a place of interest as there are so many animals to be viewed; but for some others, it is a place where large animals that cannot speak are forced to entertain and are confined to small areas and remain chained for most of their …
Continue reading ‘Elephants in Dehiwela Zoo Have Been Kept in Chains from its Inception in 1939.’ »
By Lankesh Gooneratne Sri Lanka’s tea industry is almost synonymous with the Tamils of Indian origin, living and working in the sprawling tea plantations in the picturesque up-country region. Descending from the workers brought here by the British colonizers as indentured labourers from South India, the life of these people is one of abject poverty …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka is exploring possibilities of private investment in oil refining and has invited several foreign companies, including Indian companies like Reliance, to come up with proposals, the Minister for Petroleum, Chandima Weerakkody, told the Foreign Correspondents’ Association here on Monday. He said that he will be visiting India soon to meet his …
By Sanja De Silva Jayatilleka It must surely be thought odd that I am even undertaking an effort to intervene here on a subject that requires comment by lawyers or political scientists. But as a concerned citizen-observer I have some worries and since I have not seen any debate whatsoever in the media, I want …
Continue reading ‘Is Transitional Justice a Trick, Treat or Trap for Sri Lanka?’ »
The new constitution is being formulated by parliament sitting as a constitutional council. Once the new constitution is passed in parliament it has to be adopted by the people at a referendum, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when he opened the new administrative complex of the Jaffna Kachcheri on September 17. The Prime Minister said …
By Namini Wijedasa Sri Lanka’s Mobile Service Providers (MSP) have fleeced millions of customers through third-party billing, a practice by which they are charged for value-added services they did not knowingly enlist for. Third-party billing arises from “mobile customers mistakenly joining subscription services by simply clicking on an advertisement or web page”. Registration takes place …
By Namini Wijedasa As film destinations go, Sri Lanka nearly has it all. From rolling hills to verdant rainforests, and sandy beaches to historical ruins, a range of locations accessible within hours of each other. The workforce is educated and genial, the costs are low. And Sri Lanka is today the most peaceful nation in …
By Rasika Jayakody UPFA Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa ran into a trouble when he met the chief prelate of the Malwatte chapter, Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddartha Sumangala Thera, last week to discuss about the government’s plans for a new constitution. Weerawansa, speaking to the Mahanayake Thera, said the new constitution was being drafted to fulfill the needs …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has called for a ban on bottom trawling, a destructive fishing practice that harms marine ecosystems. Mr. Samaraweera made the appeal at the recent ‘Our Ocean 2016 conference’ in Washington DC, ahead of high-level talks between India and Sri Lanka on the Palk Bay conflict. Sri …
By P.K.Balachandran Extremist Diaspora Tamil groups, which are politically marginalized since the minorities-friendly President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe came to power in Sri Lanka in 2015, are now resorting to well publicized violence to stay in the public eye. This is the explanation given by moderate Tamil leaders for the recent violent …
By P.K.Balachandran Seven Sri Lankan Tamil parties have written a joint letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing “deep concern” about the attacks on Tamils in Karnataka over the Cauvery waters issue. The letter dated September 14, was handed over to the Indian Consul General in Jaffna, A.Natarajan, by top leaders of the Ilankai …
by Tisaranee Gunasekara Time past and time future What might have been and what has been Point to one end, which is always present. Eliot (Four Quartets) It should have been a time of confidence. The long Eelam War had been won, the opposition was floundering and the Rajapaksas were at the acme of their …
Continue reading ‘Sirisena- Wickremesinghe Govt Takes Two Steps Forward and One Step Back’ »
By Manekshaw A week after Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia Ibrahim Sahib Ansar was attacked at the Kuala Lumpur Airport by a group of five persons believed to be the sympathizers of the now defunct LTTE, a meeting attended by the Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian and the Leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi …
by Adrija Roy Chowdhury When three years back, a Sri Lankan envoy sought Indian support on the basis of the claim that the Sinhalese people are descendents of Bengalis and Odias, there was an upsurge of perplexity and outrage among large sections of the Indian population. However, subsequent research has shown that the Sinhalese, who …
By DR. Dayan Jayatilleka One must thank Chandrika for letting the cat out of the bag. In her recent address to “the national secretariat for national reconciliation” she has called for a federal, semi-secular constitution. (http://www.dailymirror.lk/115874/CBK-calls-for-a-federal-semi-secular-constitution). I shall bypass the issue of semi-secularism and the role of Buddhism in the Constitution because it has been …
Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga called for a joint effort of all parties to compile a federal semi-secular constitution in order to bring about a proper reconciliation in the country. Ms Kumaratunga, who was speaking at a seminar organized by the national secretariat for national reconciliation in Colombo, said Sri Lanka should learn a lesson from …
By Shamindra Ferdinando In the wake of outgoing UNSG Ban Ki-moon calling for a further reduction of Jaffna peninsula based Army deployments, the military told The Island that the fighting strength there had been substantially reduced along with gradual releasing of land held for security purposes. The process commenced in Oct 2010 about 18 months …
By Niyanthini Kadirgamar and Esther Surenthiraraj Images of the week-long protest held by the Students of Uduvil Girls College (UGC), filling the news last week, have spread beyond the community of Uduvil. The issue is now of wider social concern and has led to a debate about the role of private schools and the future …
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage arrested over a complaint that he had allegedly purchased properties through illegally acquired money was yesterday ordered to be remanded till September 22 by Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris. The former minister was arrested by the CID for alleged money laundering. The CID alleged that Aluthgamage has …
By P.K.Balachandran The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid, did not mention Sri Lanka in his opening address at the 33 rd. session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Tuesday. This was because the theme of his speech was the problem of countries not giving access to UN rights …
By Bandula Jayasekara Major General , Kamal Gunaratne who commanded the elite 53 division of the Sri Lankan Army retired from on the 5th of September and launched his book ‘Road to Nandikadal – True story of defeating the Tamil Tigers’ both in Sinhala and English, on his birthday, 6th September. I have met Kamal …
By P.K.Balachandran The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it is opting out of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Venture to set up a coal-fired 500 MW power at Sampur in the Eastern Province. The ill-fated JV between the Ceylon Electricity Board and the National Thermal Power Corporation of India (NTPC) has …
By Upul Joseph Fernando Last week a function was held at Ananda College, Colombo, to launch the book Road to Nandikadal by Major General Kamal Gunaratne. Neither the President, nor the Prime Minister or any Member of Parliament or Minister of this government had been invited for this function. Only former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Would India have allowed Ban Ki moon to travel to Kashmir and have a political dialogue with strident Kashmiri nationalists? The Sri Lankan Government permitted and facilitated a meeting between the UNSG with the Northern Provincial Council and its Chief Minister. Every parent knows that you do not reward bad behaviour with …
By Rasika Jayakody “Deceit for personal gain is one of history’s most recurring crimes. Man’s first step towards change would be thinking, counter-arguing, re-thinking, twisting, straightening, perfecting, then believing every original idea he intends to make public before making it public. There is always an angle from which an absolute truth may appear askew just …
By Rohan Wijesinha The recent resistance of many conservationists and conservation agencies to the expansion, in the last few years, of the Pallenkandal Shrine, within the boundaries of the Wilpattu National Park, is based on Law and Principle, and is not a matter of religion, ethnicity or politics. It is also a matter of conservation …
By Gomin Dayasri In the South, children of good governance overwhelmed the descendants of nationalism. Presidential elections were a contest between the Kids of 2015 and Veterans of ’56. Heirs of ‘56 stood steadfastly behind their leadership on conviction in defeat. Impatient kids of 2015 left ‘Yahapalana’ regime in disgust after victory. Sincerity of both …
The Government has assured the country’s apex court that it will not pursue a coal-fired power project in Sampur due to opposition by environmental groups, a decade after Sri Lanka signed a joint venture with India to construct the plant. When the case against the Sampur coal-fired power plant filed by the Environmental Foundation Ltd. …
By Ranga Jayasuriya It is rather strange that nobody has yet cried ‘conspiracy’ over the High Court sentencing Duminda Silva and four others to death last week on charges of murdering Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others. Perhaps that indifference, even of his fellow travellers in the former regime, is understandable. Judging by the public …
By Dharisha Bastians After a week of protests and turmoil, the crisis at the Uduvil Girls’ College appeared to be drawing to a close, with retiring principal Shiranee Mills formally handing over duties to her successor last evening. The breakthrough was a result of waning support for the protests over the appointment of a new …
By Ananth Palakidnar Veteran Tamil journalist K.G. Mahadeva, who served as the Senior News Editor of the Eelanadu, in Jaffna, passed away, at the age of 76, in Chennai on Sunday (11). Mahadeva, who hailed from Batticaloa, served in the Seithi (News) publication from the upcountry in the sixties before joining Eelanadu, Jaffna, which was …
by Sirimewan Kasturiarachchi The army would not return even an inch of the 4,419 acre land belonging to the Jaffna camp and Palaly Military cantonment, Jaffna Security Forces Commander Maj Gen Mahesh Senanayake said. He said that the Palaly High Security Zone had encompassed around 11,269 acres until 2010 and 7,210 acres had been given …
By P.K.Balachandran An appalling lack of security at the airport and a corrupt Malaysian administration are blamed for the brutal assault on the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Malaysia, Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, by local Indian Tamil radicals at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on September 4. Informed sources told Express that security at the …
by Norman Palihawadane The Colombo Municipal Council gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court last week to utilise a 35-acre land at Ja-Ela for dumping of city’s garbage hereafter, but Head of Catholic Church Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday expressed opposition to polluting the northern suburb of Colombo. The authorities, responsible for garbage disposal, should take …
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has been honoured with ‘Tamil Ratna’ award by a body of Tamil diaspora here for fighting corruption and working for more transparency in the functioning of the government. The America Tamil Sangam awarded the ‘Tamil Ratna’ to the senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP, who is currently on a visit …
By Gamini Seneviratne People would have known him for his advocacy of simple farming and his work on Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD, thanks mostly to his work no longer regarded as of ‘Unknown’ origin). He passed away without ceremony in his home town, Kandy, and his remains cremated yesterday. Royal in our time had a …
By Dr.Pradeep Peiris The Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s 65th anniversary hit news headlines this time mainly due to the party’s current internal power struggle. Since January 2015, the SLFP has been embroiled in a bitter internal power struggle between its current leader Maithripala Sirisena and his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa. The SLFP founded by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike …
By P.K.Balachandran Both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday clearly indicated that the on-going fruitful alliance between their respective parties – the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (SLFP) – will continue in order to develop Sri Lanka and maintain its sovereignty. That the alliance between the …
By Dharisha Bastians Students of the Uduvil Girls College (UGC) in Jaffna handed over a petition to President Maithripala Sirisena opposite the Jaffna Library yesterday, as crisis deepens in the church administered school over a popular headmistress who was retired this week. Falling at the President’s feet last afternoon, the schoolgirls wept and appealed to …
By Vanesha Shurentheran Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P.Ramasamy had raised five issues regarding the protest against allowing former Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse into the country and the arrest on five Malaysians for assaulting Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ibrahim Sahib Ansar. “First, despite more than 500 police reports made by various Tamils …
BY SANJA DE SILVA JAYATILLEKA The September session of the United Nations Human Rights Council will start on the 13th of this month. There is a report on Sri Lanka due to be presented there. It is the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on its mission to Sri Lanka. I …
By Dharisha Bastians The high profile Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra murder trial came to a dramatic end yesterday, with ex-Parliamentarian Duminda Silva, a close ally of former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa being sentenced to death for the murder of the SLFP politico by the Colombo High Court yesterday. A three judge bench of the High Court …
By Ishara Ratnakara The Colombo High Court (CHC) yesterday sentenced to death former Parliamentarian Duminda Silva and four others in one of Sri Lanka’s most high profile murder cases. They were all found guilty of murdering former MP and Presidential Adviser Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others. The three-member Trial-at-Bar Bench was divided in its …
Former MP Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra’s daughter Hirunika Premachandra, addressing the media after the verdict of the Colombo Chief Magistrate said justice was achieved because the supremacy of law is protected under the new President. “If the Government had not changed, maybe the verdict would have been different,” the weeping UNP MP said. “Justice was achieved …
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda Five accused including former Defence Ministry Monitoring MP Duminda Silva were yesterday sentenced to death by Colombo High Court for committing the murder of four persons including former MP Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra on October 8, 2011. However, the verdict was divided two to one with Judges Pathmini N.Ranawaka and M.C.B.S. Moraes finding …
By Chitra Weeraratne Two Judges out of the three High Court Judges, who comprised the trial-at-bar yesterday convicted former Parliamentarian Duminda Silva and four others of the conspiracy to murder and commit the murder of former Parliamentarian and presidential adviser, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra. Death penalty was imposed on the convicts for that crime.
Former Parliamentarian Duminda Silva and four others were sentenced to death today by the Colombo High Court after being found guilty in the murder of former MP and Presidential Advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others in 2011. Former MP Premachandra, was killed on October 8, 2011 in a clash between two groups at Walpola, …
By Dharisha Bastians On 23 May 2009, four days after Sri Lanka’s civil war had come to its brutal and bloody end, Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon arrived in the island. On a quick trip to the embattled Northern Province the UN Chief flew over the final theatre of battle in …
Continue reading ‘Tamil National Alliance After Sampanthan Likely to Fragment and Disintegrate.’ »
By Upul Joseph Fernando The appearance of the Tiger woman soldier in Malaysia who was in charge of the security of Dwaraka, Velupillai Prabhakaran’s daughter during the end of the war in Vellamulliwaikkal was a surprise to the Tamil community living in Malaysia as well. It was a mystery at that time how, after Dwaraka …
(Text of Editorial Appearing under the heading “Thus spake Ban ” in “The Island” of September 8th 2016) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has come and gone, but brouhaha one of his controversial remarks triggered has not yet died down. The government was over the moon about Ban’s visit, but now it has been left …
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The government would not seek any clarification from the United Nations (UN) regarding the UN Secretary General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon’s comparison of civilians deaths during the Vanni war with acts of genocide in Rwanda and Serbia in 1994 and 1995, respectively, Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Karunarathna Paranawithana said …
The Government is exploring the possibility of encouraging more Tamil-speaking members of the public to join the Police, Armed Forces and Prisons Department in order to cater to the needs of those in the country’s north and east. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday attributed this dearth to the LTTE’s frequent killings of Tamil-speaking members of …
By Saman Indrajith Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday that the government had called for a detailed report from the Malaysian government on the attack on Sri Lankan envoy at the Kuala Lumpur Airport. He said the Sri Lankan government had made a formal request from the Malaysian government to implement law against those …
by Shamindra Ferdinando Former General Officer Commanding elite 53 Division Maj. General (retd) Kamal Gunaratne, whose troops killed LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and some of the latter’s top lieutenants during the final confrontation on the morning of May 19, 2009 has strongly disputed UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s comparison of Vanni offensive with cases of genocide in …
The assault on the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia by LTTE supporters at the Kuala Lampur International Airport came was condemned in Parliament yesterday. Both Opposition and Government MPs voiced their concern and criticised Malaysian authorities for failing to provide adequate security for diplomats as is agreed to in international conventions. According to Prime …
By P.K.Balachandran The assault on Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Sunday, was a “political act” and not a “terrorist act”, the Malaysian Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohomed, said here on Tuesday. “It was an isolated incident triggered by political conflicts,” Nur …
by Shanika Sriyananda Battle-hardened soldier Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, who has shed his Army uniform which he wore for 35 years, yesterday urged political leaders of the country to maintain the hard-earned peace. Maj. Gen. Gunaratne, who is credited for commanding his troops of the 53 Division to fight the 45-minute final battle of the …
By Ranga Jayasuriya In 2009, then President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to let in thoughts begrudgingly, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on an impromptu visit here for that would serve both men- For Mr. Ban who was facing criticism from the Human Rights lobby for the UN’s perceived failure to intervene in Sri Lanka, it …
By Aruni Mallawaarchchi and Premalal Wijeratne The mystery of textile trader Mohammed Sulaiman’s death is now resolved. The killers had no more chance to hide the truth. They have confessed to the crime and are now repenting. Mohammed Sulaiman was abducted in the night of 21 August as he was returning home from a party. …
By PK Balachandran On September 3, the chief monk of the Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in Sentul was assaulted by a small group of demonstrators who were against Rajapaksa visiting the temple, Free Malaysia Today reported. Members of the Malaysian Indian Progressive Association, Malaysian Tamilan, and the Malaysian Indian Education Transformation Association began their protest …
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian police said Monday they have arrested five people over the Sunday’s attack on Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ibrahim Sahib Ansar. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner was assaulted by a group of persons at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday leaving him with minor injuries.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the High Commissioner of Malaysia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning, 5 September to express the condemnation of the Government of Sri Lanka, on the assault carried out by a group of persons on 4 September, on Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, in …
By Chamodi Gunawardana Upon returning to Sri Lanka from Malaysia, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday charged that President Maithripala Sirisena had “betrayed” the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s (SLFP) strategies by co-governing with the United National Party (UNP) and extending the agreement. Responding to Sirisena’s request to gather around the SLFP to strengthen the party’s roots, …
This is a story that will shock Sri Lankans who believe in good governance or yaha palanaya with the advent of the present Government. Sri Lanka joined China as a “Country Partner” in its Silk Road International Tourism Expo 2016 from August 26 to 28. The event was part of “One belt, One Road” project …
By P.K.Balachandran The Rajapaksa faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) boycotted the convention held to mark the 65 th. anniversary of the party at Kurunegala on Sunday, thereby keeping up the inner party struggle for power between former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the incumbent President and party Chairman, Maithripala Sirisena. While …
By Dharisha Bastians In the strongest hint yet that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party is poised to break with the UPFA, President Maithripala Sirisena told his party’s 65th Convention that they would contest the upcoming local government polls under the SLFP’s traditional ‘hand’ symbol. “We are firing the first salvo towards forming a SLFP Government …
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed reports that Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ibrahim Ansar had been assaulted by a group of persons at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. “The Government of Sri Lanka condemns this act of violence on Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Malaysia, in the strongest terms. The High Commissioner …
By Charminda Rodrigo Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ibrahim Anzar and the High Commission’s Second Secretary were subject to an assault near the Kuala Lampur Airport. Parliamentarian Johnston Fernando told Ceylon Today, “A group of LTTE sympathizers, who were protesting against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had surrounded the Sri Lankan Envoy and rigorously attacked …
Milinda Moragoda , a one-time UNP minister and later UPFA mayoral candidate for the city of Colombo, facilitated a meeting for the President with former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A well informed source said their conversation covered a broad spectrum of views. The source was emphatic that Sirisena did not commit himself to any position …
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who deemed it fit to sermonize to Sri Lanka during his visit this week, is under fire for appointing his son-in-law, Siddharth Chatterjee, as UN Coordinator for East Africa last week. Mr. Ban is reported to have signed his appointment letter, according to media reports from the UN headquarters in New …
by DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA “In the way of resistance, there were few lonely voices…In the main, though, the foreigner took the Ceylonese upper class by the scruff of its neck…It was a class therefore destined for a rude shock…Meanwhile the masses lay dormant; watching, waiting, resentful.” (Mervyn de Silva, “1956: The Cultural Revolution That Shook …
By the “Sunday Times” Diplomatic Editor UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon caused controversy this week by categorising Sri Lanka alongside Rwanda and Srebenica to make a case for increased intervention by the United Nations in internal conflicts. Mr Ban’s comments were a departure from the prepared text of his speech ‘Sustainable Peace and Achieving Sustainable Development …
A battalion of officers and men from the Sri Lanka Army have been invited to join the United Nations Peacekeeping Force for operations in the northern areas of the West African nation of Mali. A batch of 500 troops will leave first and the rest will fly thereafter, according to Defence and Foreign Ministry sources.Mali …
By P.K.Balachandran The Tamil Peoples’ Council (TPC) ,a non-partisan body floated by the Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran, is inviting people to join a mass protest in Jaffna on September 24, to demand a stop to the construction of Buddha statues and Buddhist temples in areas in the Northern Province where there are no Buddhists, …
By P.K.Balachandran. The visiting UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has not committed himself explicitly to the UN Human Rights Council’s demand that Sri Lanka should incorporate foreign judges in the Judicial Mechanism to be set up to try war crimes cases. Asked pointedly on his stand on the issue at a press conference here on …
by C.A.Chandraprema UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon last night deliberately avoided answering a question put to him by a journalist whether the UN was operating on the presumption that war crimes had, in fact, been committed in this country during the last stages of the war. The UNSG was addressing the media at the …
by Shamindra Ferdinando President Maithripala Sirisena has told UNSG Ban Ki-moon that a section of influential Tamil politicians severely have undermined the post-war national reconciliation process by demanding immediate solutions to long-standing problems. President Sirisena stressed that his administration expected to be allowed to address issues without encountering undue pressure. The President who is also …
By Charnika Imbulana Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena, who is known as Maithripala Sirisena, a Sri Lankan politician with 25 years in mainstream politics and one who does not belong to the Sri Lankan political elite, shot to fame to hold the highest mantle in the country on that famous date, 8 January 2015. Referred …
By Dharisha Bastians Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran told visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Jaffna yesterday that there could be no reconciliation without addressing accountability issues relating to the final stages of the war. Chief Minister Wigneswaran who secured a one-on-one meeting with the UN Chief separate from the Tamil National Alliance delegation, …
By Dharisha Bastians Reporting from Jaffna Disappearances, resettlement and detentions under the country’s draconian anti-terror legislation – all lingering issues from a 26 year civil war – took centre stage yesterday as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited the formerly embattled Northern Province for the first time since 2009. During his four hour tour of …
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Progressive Conservative candidate Raymond Cho has won the Scarborough-Rouge River provincial by election, held to replace former Liberal MPP Bas Balkissoon.With all 234 polls reporting, Cho won the seat by 2,429 votes. Eleven candidates ran in the Toronto riding, which has been a Liberal stronghold since its creation in 1999. They included Piragal Thiru for …
By Adrian Morrow Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have triumphed in a key by-election after igniting a political firestorm over the province’s sexual-education curriculum. The victory in Scarborough-Rouge River on Thursday, which had been held by the Liberals since 1999, is a coup for PC Leader Patrick Brown, who is seeking to prove he can make inroads …
By M. S. M.Ayub The defeat in 2009 of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which had overrun many huge military bases in the north and the east for over two decades would definitely have puzzled many in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries. It was an organisation that had overrun the …