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by Shamindra Ferdinando Taking into consideration the failure on the part of the British government to restraining the UK based LTTE groups during his previous visits, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided against attending the World War I Commemorative Service for the Commonwealth at Glasgow Cathedral on August 4. External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, […]

By Upul Joseph Fernando When former President D.B. Wijetunga met people at his retirement home in Kandy, he used to say that his engagement with the Southern Provincial Council was a folly. UNP was never strong in the South. The UNP strategy at the Southern Provincial Council election finally paved way for Chandrika to come […]

By Dharisha Bastians The Presidential proclamation came like a bolt from the blue. For one endlessly-suspended moment, the world according to the Rajapaksa administration had turned topsy-turvy. After five years of stringent denials and rejections, zero casualty claims, military courts of inquiry and war censuses, President Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a proclamation last Thursday announcing the […]

By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. In July 2008, when I was head of the Peace Secretariat, I published a volume entitled ‘Lest We Forget’, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ethnic violence of July 1983. I had wanted the President to preside over a meeting to express regrets, but he did not think this […]

In Remembrance of ‘July 83’ by the Young Political Leaders Forum (YPLF) Dated July 23rd, 2014 | Colombo We, the undersigned members of the Young Political Leaders Forum of Sri Lanka (YPLF), recall the events of ‘July 1983’ with deep regret. Today, thirty-one years later, we strongly believe that Sri Lanka has the opportunity to […]

By Dharisha Bastians The hardline Bodu Bala Sena organisation has criticised efforts by certain groups to get its General Secretary Galagodaththe Gnanasara Thero’s Australian visa cancelled, calling it a ‘third class act’. “There are extremist groups and Muslim organisations behind the moves to get his visa cancelled,” BBS CEO Dilantha Withanage told a media conference […]

COLOMBO, July 22 — A firebrand Sri Lankan monk today criticised the Dalai Lama for urging the island’s Buddhists to halt violence against minority Muslims and rejected him as a global spiritual leader. Buddhist monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara said the Dalai Lama was ignorant of the “true situation in Sri Lanka” and accused the Nobel Peace […]

By Meera Srinivasan India will be far more supportive of Sri Lanka’s position at the United Nations Human Rights Council than ever before, former Union Cabinet Minister and the chairman of the BJP Committee for Strategic Action Subramanian Swamy said here on Monday. Speaking on ‘India under Modi: relevance for the region and the world’, […]

By Meera Srinivasan There is a need for India and Sri Lanka to engage in a strategic dialogue, chairman of the BJP Committee for Strategic Action Subramanian Swamy said after a meeting with Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa here on Tuesday. “We discussed a gamut of issues, and felt such a strategic dialogue would […]

By Lakna Paranamanna Dr. Subramanian Swamy – Chairman, BJP Committee on Strategic Action and Member of BJP’s National Executive Committee in an exclusive interview with spoke candidly on what to expect in changes to India’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Modi’s administration and on India’s support to Sri Lanka. Following are the excerpts: Q In […]

By Vishwamithra 1984 “Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain, through me you go amongst the lost people” ~Dante Alighieri, The Inferno All indications of certain societal decay are present; the symptoms of a terminal sickness are frighteningly manifest in the body politic of the country. […]

The Liberal Party emphatically welcomes the recent gazette notification expanding the scope of the Presidential Commission on Disappearances. Though it is worded in a circumspect, and indeed circumlocutory, fashion, it fulfils the long expressed need for an internal inquiry into possible violations of law during the conflict. Thankfully, coming hard on the heels of the […]

BY A.R. VENKATACHALAPATHY Born in 1882, Subramania Bharati’s political career began in the end of 1904. Less than four years later he would be forced into exile, an ordeal that would extend to well over a decade. The years spent in exile in the French enclave of Pondicherry, between mid-1908 and late 1918, subsume the […]

By Ranat The news that Ceylon Theatres has opened a state-of-the art 100-seat cinema at the recently-opened Arcade complex and named it the Empire Cineplex made me hunt for the origins of the once-popular cinema by the same name. We used to frequent the place in Braybrooke Place in the good old days where quality […]

The grey slender loris is found only in Sri Lanka and parts of India. Human activity is threatening the habitat of this nocturnal primate, but one site in Sri Lanka is now seeing a boost in numbers.

By Srinivasa Ramanujam Hailing from a filmi family can pose a huge challenge for some. Like Gajesh. He’s the grandson of veteran comedian Nagesh, who set a benchmark in Tamil cinema with his effortless portrayal of roles. And, he’s the son of Anandbabu, who appeared in several memorable roles in the 1990s, and is widely […]

by S.Saraswathi Director Gnana Rajasekaran’s Ramanujan is a well researched, well-written and brilliantly directed film dedicated to India’s mathematical prodigy, Ramanujan, whose genius hung like an albatross around his neck, his entire life, says S. Saraswathi. Yet another masterpiece by the man who gave us films like Bharati and Periyar. Gnana Rajasekaran is back with […]

By Susitha R.Fernando Former diplomat, educator and peace activist Javed Yusuf in an interview over recent development says it is very unfortunate that when we as a country are facing a number of challenges on the international front we are shooting ourselves in the foot by creating another problem which has already drawn unfavourable international […]

By Taylor Dibbert The U.S. Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka held a hearing on July 9 [2014] in Washington, D.C. The caucus, created in 2013, is co-chaired by Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). It remains to be seen how effective this newly created group will be […]

Popular actor Dhandapani known widely as “Kadhal Dhandapani” passed away on July 20th 2014 morning in Chennai due to a cardiac arrest.He made his debut in 2004 as the villainous father of the film’s heroine Sandhya in the successful film “Kadhal”directed by Balaji Sakthivel and produced by Shankar .Thereafter both Sandhya and Dhandapani got the […]

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN NEW DELHI, July 20: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is moving its popular Tamil language service from London to New Delhi. It will be relocated with the BBC Hindi service, according to new plans announced to cut costs until 2017. A BBC World Service spokesman said in London: “In India, BBC […]

By C.A.Chandraprema Last week, the government’s decision to appoint three ‘international experts’ to advise the Presidential Commission to Investigate Cases of Alleged Disappearances of Persons in the Northern and Eastern Provinces is the equivalent of a muscular tough guy breaking coconuts on his own head to show his opponents the kind of punishment he can […]

by Shamindra Ferdinando Top UN coordinator in charge of the ongoing war crimes investigation into accountability issues in Sri Lanka, Sandra Beidas and Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha are unlikely to meet officially, though UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navanethem Pillay has asked for a powvow between the duo and the naming of […]

Popular music composer Illayaraj’s younger son and a famous composer himself Yuvan Shankar Raja Monday confirmed that he has converted to Islam, adding that he is proud of the decision which got his family’s support. Though the rumour was going around for quite some time, Yuvan, confirmed this in a tweet. “Yes, I follow Islam […]

By Kalana Senaratne The struggle between Sri Lankan governments and NGOs is by no means a novel development; and their relationship, especially during the past decade, has been extremely tensed. The immediate aftermath of the tsunami disaster in December 2004 brought these tensions to the surface, with the JVP, for example, waging war against the […]

By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London While the Sri Lankan government officials remain tight-lipped on President Rajapaksa’s participation at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland on July 23, pro-LTTE Tamils in the UK are busy organising a demonstration opposite the Stadium. The Tamil Youth Organisation in UK has asked Tamils to gather at Barrowfield […]

by Gamini Seneviratne ‘Mandarins’ could refer to the officially adopted form of the Chinese language or to the fruit we all know. Here it refers to a term applied to the members of the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) (and adopted somewhat scornfully by those who failed to join it). The Cambridge Dictionary puts it thus: […]

By Ananth Palakidnar Excerpts from an interview with Norther Province Governor Gen.Chandrasiri: Q: You are the first Governor of the Northern Province. What have you to say on your reappointment to that position?

By Dharisha Bastians Following a high profile trial in which the defence called no witnesses, the Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced a ruling party politician and three others to 20 years in prison for murdering British tourist Khuram Shaikh and raping his Russian girlfriend in 2011. Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman and UPFA strongman Sampath Vidanapathirana […]

By Tim Hume with Reporting by Iqbal Athas (CNN) – Shortly before Buddhist mobs made a deadly rampage through Muslim neighborhoods near the town of Aluthgama, Sri Lanka last month, a man with cropped hair and glasses stood before expectant crowds to deliver an explosive speech. Video footage of the rally, called following a traffic […]

by Col. R. Hariharan (This article contains excerpts from a media interview given by the author on July 16, 2014.) Time has come for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a relook at Sri Lanka affairs under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He has continued for too long to bash on regardless of his […]

12-13 July, 2014 The 31st Black July Commemoration Ceremony was held on 12th and 13th July, 2014 in Dortmund, Germany, with participation by the Members of Parliament, and Members of North and East Provincial Councils, and the European Members of TELO, to honour the thousands of Tamils massacred, along with TELO’s founding leaders Honourable Thangathurai […]

By Dharisha Bastians The Government yesterday set the stage for a domestic inquiry into alleged civilian deaths and violations of humanitarian law during the final stages of the war, appointing three international war crimes prosecutors to advise the Presidential Commission tasked with the probe. The Presidential directive launching the inquiry comes just weeks after a […]

By Harim Peiris The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Sri Lanka’s catalyst for opening up a new Buddhist verses Muslim conflict, perhaps due to boredom now that a thirty year civil war has ended, follows more by design than accident a classic military strategy of an escalation or advancement and then a tactical retreat due to […]

By Ranga Jayasuriya Would a colourful burka be a lesser symbol of fundamentalist Islam and subjugation of women than its black counterpart? Some members of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka tend to think so. They have launched a campaign to distribute burka in ‘simple pleasing colours’ among local Muslims. They assure that the initiative […]

by Shamindra Ferdinando The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday (July 16) said that it wouldn’t release the names of the investigation team tasked with probing the war crimes allegations against the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) as well as the LTTE, though Ms Sandra Beidas was named its coordinator. […]

By Ananth Palakidnar Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, Douglas Devananda, in an extensive interview with Ceylon Today, welcomed the South African peace initiative and said sharing the South African experience would definitely help Sri Lanka deal with its problem in a constructive manner. However, he said for any attempt to find a […]

A Statement by the Secretariat for Muslims on the Need for Action One Month Since The Riot | A Statement by the Secretariat for Muslims on the Need for Action June 16, 2014 It is one month since violence in Aluthgama, Dharga Town, Welipanna, and Ambepitiya in Beruwela – primarily targeting the Muslim community – […]

by Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne (Amirthalingam Memorial Oration, 12 July 2014, London) Let me begin by thanking the UK branch of the Tamil Liberation United Front for inviting me to deliver the Amirthalingam Memorial Oration on the occasion of the 25th death anniversary of Appapillai Amirthalingam, lawyer, parliamentarian, Leader of the Opposition in the Sri Lankan […]

By Ben Travis Sonali Deraniyagala has won the PEN/Ackerley Prize 2014 for Wave, her memoir recounting the loss of her parents, her husband and two young sons in the tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka in December 2004. “The pleasure of receiving this wonderful prize makes me see that there is a beauty in struggle and […]

By Meera Srinivasan When Sri Lankan archaeologist Sudharshan Seneviratne drove down to Chanakyapuri on a hot day recently, memories of his Delhi days came back gushing. From being a student in the city in the 1970s to returning now as the highest representative of his country, life has come a full circle, says Sri Lanka’s […]

By Dharisha Bastians Ten months ago, the Tamil people of the Northern Province who were liberated from the clutches of the LTTE by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his security forces went to the polls to elect a provincial government for the first time in 25 years. During a heated election season, the Government pledged to […]

By Dharisha Bastians President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited all provincial chief ministers to attend this week’s Cabinet briefing, but Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran says he has already sent his regrets. All chief ministers were invited to the cabinet meeting on Thursday (17), Presidential Spokesman Mohan Samaranayake told Daily FT. Chief Minister Wigneswaran, who […]

By Vishwamithra 1984 “The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery – not over nature but of ourselves” ~Rachel Carson Is the person who is identified as Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero another Buddharakkhitha in the making or is he just a pretender? But the circumstances and conditions seem to be much […]

BY STANLEY SAMARASINGHE Lawyers appearing for Mavai Senathirajah, Secretary of Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and President of TNA, R. Sampanthan, yesterday (15) agreed to submit an affidavit, to the Supreme Court, stating that Sri Lanka is a unitary State. This was sequel to six cases filed in Supreme Court […]

By Dharisha Bastians The hardline Bodu Bala Sena Organisation yesterday slammed President Mahinda Rajapaksa for permitting his own Cabinet ministers to insult Buddhist monks and the Buddhist people who swept him into power. The remarks follow statements made by Justice Minister and Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Rauff Hakeem to foreign correspondents in […]

By Upul Joseph Fernando While Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris was having discussions with Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, President Mahinda Rajapaksa extended the service of Northern Provincial Council Governor Major General G.A. Chandrasiri. It was an unexpected move for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). TNA and its Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran had […]

By Supun Dias In an exclusive interview, Daily mirror spoke to the Secretary General of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thera on the Aluthgama incident and on the allegations levelled against his organizations Q Although the Aluthgama incident is now a thing of the past do you think the speech you made […]

By N Sathiya Moorthy The veshti controversy in Tamil Nadu is not about the dress — but a dress-code, which seems permissible in private homes and offices, but not in private clubs that are open only to well-heeled, and well-paying private members, observes N Sathiya Moorthy. At the height of the post-poll scenario in 1996, […]

By Chitra Weeraratne The Supreme Court yesterday advised counsel to try and work out a settlement and restore goodwill between Chief Minister of the Northern Province C. V. Wigneswaran, a retired Supreme Court judge and Chief Secretary of the Northern Province Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Ramesh. It should be done for the sake of good governance, the […]

By Chrishanthi Christopher The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will meet this week to discuss the re-appointment of former military-man, G.A. Chandrasiri, as the Governor of the Northern Province and work out the Party’s response. TNA Parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran, said the Party will take a decision on the reappointment after the meeting. TNA sources however, hinted […]

by Dennis Walder • Nadine Gordimer, writer, born 20 November 1923; died 13 July 2014 South Africa has produced several writers of stature in the past half century, but few have approached the achievement of Nadine Gordimer, who has died aged 90. A significant figure in world literature, Gordimer plumbed the depths of human interaction […]

by David Smith in Johannesburg South Africa mourned one of its literary giants on Monday, with the death at 90 of Nadine Gordimer, a Nobel laureate praised for remaining politically and intellectually courageous until the end. Gordimer, arguably the foremost chronicler of racial apartheid and the subsequent vicissitudes of democracy, died peacefully in her sleep […]

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared as national heritage the ancestral home in Peshawar of Hindi moviedom’s thespian actor Dilip Kumar. He has directed the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage to acquire the house. The prime minister’s approval was sent to the information ministry, which has forwarded it to director general, Pakistan […]

(Following is the text of the National Shoora Council’s Response to the Bodu bala Sena demand that the Shoora Council should be banned) ​The National Shoora (Consultative) Council (NSC) , a grouping of national level Muslim Organisations, including a cross –section of the community’s intelligentsia and activists is not surprised at the BoduBalaSena’s (BBS) call […]

By Ranga Jayasuriya Not usually, does the second in command of a regional power, flanked by a presidential delegation, fly thousands miles to some embattled small State, disguised as ‘tourists’ to talk to the adversaries of a protracted domestic problem. However, Cyril Ramaphosa, the Deputy President of South Africa and the ruling African National Congress, […]

By Chrishanthi Christopher The fate of the 153 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, who allegedly left the shores of Pondicherry, India to Australia, is in limbo. Australia, determined to claim that ‘no boats arrived’ in its shores intercepted the boat carrying the asylum seekers, at mid sea. It is learnt that the asylum seekers’ claims for […]

(Following is the full text of letter submitted by former SSP,MP and Current Provincial Council member “Pottuvil”M.Abdul Majeed from his membership and from the deputy chairmanship of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress protesting the party leadership’s inaction over recent incidents afflicting the Muslim community in Sri Lanka) It is after a deep thought and with […]

By Hafeel Farisz UNP MP PalithaThewarapperuma who was an eye witness to the recent riots in Aluthgama and surrounding areas was injured after a mob had attacked his vehicle while transporting victims. Speaking to the “Daily Mirror” he said that his offer to resign was due a cause he believed in and should not be […]

The Government of India yesterday announced a partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka to assist in the setting up of a Faculty of Agriculture and a Faculty of Engineering for the University of Jaffna at Kilinochchi. A Memorandum of Understanding between the two Governments for the implementation of this project was signed on 14 […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa last night officially opened the new Empire Cineplex at the Arcade Independence Square last evening. The Empire Cineplex, part of the Ceylon Theatres chain of cinemas, opened at the colonial masterpiece that has been restored into a high-end shopping complex. The Empire Cineplex is an exclusive 100-seater cinema with state-of-the-art features that […]

The United Nations General Assembly has elected Chamithri Rambukwella, Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York, as Vice-Chair of the Fifth Committee. Ms. Rambukwella was unanimously endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Group to represent them at the Bureau of the Fifth Committee for the 69th Session (September […]

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Bodhu Bala Sena General-Secretary Ven.Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero is scheduled to visit Australia on a “spiritual awakening mission” in a few weeks time it is learnt. BBS briefs Foreign Correspondence Association, FCA President @shiharaneez presents a token to Gnanasara Thero – pic by @Azzamameen The notorious monk known for articulating racial and religious […]

Nearly a month after the worst religious violence Sri Lanka has seen in decades, Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem has warned of a ‘virtual holocaust’ against the country’s Muslim community unless Islamophobia and hate speech by radical monks were nipped in the bud. Minister Hakeem, who also heads the country’s largest Muslim Party, the Sri Lanka […]

By N. Sathiya Moorthy Coming as it did after the Aluthgama incident, BBS leader, Ven Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero’s call for Pope Francis to apologise to Sri Lanka’s Sinhala-Buddhists for alleged atrocities committed by Christian colonialists in the past centuries thankfully did not receive the kind of media attention that it might have got. Not […]

The Indian Government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will not support the UNHRC probe into alleged human rights violations during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s battle against terrorism. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told her Sri Lankan counterpart Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday that India would uphold the objection to a UN probe […]

RIO DI JANIERO, BRAZIL—Germany has defeated Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup in extra time. Mario Gotze scored in the 113th minute after the two teams were tied 0-0 in regulation time. Germany is the first European country to win a World Cup in South America. It is Germany’s fourth world title and first […]

by C.A.Chandraprema Last week, the Bodu Bala Sena said that when the Pope visits this country, he should apologize for the crimes committed against Buddhists by the Christian colonial powers. When the government of Sri Lanka invited the Pope to visit this country, it was obviously not to extract an apology from his holiness, but […]

by Gnana Moonesinghe “Methinks thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee” – Shakespeare The events of the past few days in Alutgama and Beruwela have sent shock waves to the rest of the country. One sways in horror. It is unbelievable to imagine that, so soon after the end of the […]

by Dr. Devanesan Nesiah It is unlikely that there is anyone living who remembers the anti -Muslim riots of 1915. In any case, apart from the fact that most of the victims were Muslims and most of the perpetrators were Sinhalese, there are few similarities between the riots of 1915 and 2014. In 1915 the […]

By Don Manu Once Dayasiri Jayasekera, the Elder and Harin Fernando, the Younger, were the best of buddies, soul mates who often met to sing and dance and browse their grouses in the familiar tavern of life found on the same side of the run down street. There, seated on worn out wooden benches, they […]

by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan Former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, Ministers Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan (Karuna) and Douglas Devananda would be summoned for inquiry if there is concrete evidence against them, over missing persons in the North and East, as claimed by the complainants, the Presidential Commission on Disappearances said. This was in response […]

by Kalana Senaratne Some wondered whether the recent visit of Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s Deputy President, amounted to unwarranted intervention. Some thought he was a mediator. For some others, he was just a tourist. Minister Wimal Weerawansa informed the Lankadeepa newspaper that there was no problem in Ramaphosa having a cup of tea or watching […]

BY DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA “The entire Sinhalese-controlled media went along with JR Jayewardene’s reasoning. Only one Sinhalese journalist, Mervyn de Silva of the Lanka Guardian, sensed the danger. In his news analysis, titled ‘Who buried the TULF?’ in the 1 August 1984 issue he wrote: ‘How very short-sighted and stupid.’” (T. Sabaratnam, ‘Pirapaharan’ Chapter 19, […]

By Dharisha Bastians President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reappointed a former military commander as Northern Province Governor, ignoring the strong objections of the Tamil National Alliance that is running the provincial administration in the formerly embattled region. He was sworn in as the Governor of Northern Province again by the President at Temple Trees yesterday, the […]

By Dharisha Bastians Sri Lankan deposits in Swiss bank accounts are now being listed under residential addresses in offshore havens like Seychelles, as Switzerland tightens financial regulations in line with European banking standards, United National Party Parliamentarian and Economist Dr. Harsha De Silva revealed yesterday. According to the UNP Legislator, the most recent report from […]

By Ashwin Hemmathagama The circular limiting the NGO operations to their “annual action plans” and strictly “prohibiting press conferences, workshops, training for journalists, and dissemination of press releases,” came under heated debate in Parliament yesterday. Highlighting the circular number MOD/NGO/mon/4 dated 1st July 2014 1.7.2014 the Director/ Registrar of the National Secretariat for Non-Government Organizations […]

By Menaka Indrakumar and Zahrah Imtiaz Deputy Minister of External Affairs, Neomal Perera told Parliament South African Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa visited the country as a special envoy to Sri Lanka, to share South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) experience. He was responding to a question on the purpose of Ramaphosa’s visit posed by […]

by Saman Indrajith UPFA National List MP A. H. M. Azwer on Wednesday complained to Parliament that certain Lankan Muslims in West Asian countries had given him threatening calls and sent SMS to his mobile phone that they would kill him for siding with the Sinhala Government. MP Azwer participating in the debate on two […]

By Dharisha Bastians The South African initiatives to assist reconciliation in Sri Lanka will complement processes unfolding at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and bilaterally with India and other international partners, Pretoria’s Special Envoy Cyril Ramaphosa observed during his visit to Jaffna this week. Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran told the Daily […]

A brawl between Wayamba Chief Minister (CM), Dayasiri Jayasekara, and UNP Badulla District MP, Harin Fernando, on Wednesday, forced the organizers of Derana TV’s Waada Pitiya, which was to be telecast on Tuesday, to cancel the programme. At the beginning of the programme, Fernando referred to Jayasekara as “I say” and “eunuch”. These derogatory words […]

The Ministry of External Affairs yesterday issued a statement regarding the recent Defence Ministry directives to Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Following is the full text of the statement: The attention of this Ministry has been drawn to several media reports and expressions of concern relating to recent instructions issued by the Director/Registrar of the National […]

DAP ADUN for Perai and current Deputy Chief Minister II, Professor P.Ramasamy is a known associate of LTTE and a self-acknowledged supporter of separatists and freedom fighters in Sri Lanka. Professor Ramasamy was appointed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to be one of the members of its Constitutional Affairs Committee in 2003. […]

Two police reports have been lodged against Malaysia’s Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy over alleged links with the LTTE, therakyatpost.com reported. One of the groups also alleged that Ramasamy was brave as he is “backed up by the Tiger Eelam separatist group from Sri Lanka”. The reports were lodged by two non-governmental […]

by N Sathiya Moorthy Public posturing apart, moderate Tamils in Sri Lanka seem to want India to intercede on their behalf all over again and help arrive at a political settlement on the ethnic issue with their nation’s government. As the acknowledged – and proven – voice of the Tamils in the country, especially in […]

First insider trading loss for Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara’s By Sital S. Patel Raj Rajaratnam’s brother ends the winning streak of insider trading cases gone after by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s. After just one day of deliberations, a jury on Tuesday found Rengan Rajaratnam not guilty of a single charge of conspiracy to […]

By Dharisha Bastians Jacob Zuma, South African President, appointed a special envoy to oversee the African nation’s conflict resolution and reconciliation initiatives in two post-war societies earlier this year. In civil war struck South Sudan, Zuma’s appointee and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has his work cut out for him. But in Sri Lanka, where for […]

Submitting an observation report to the Colombo Fort Magistrate, the Director General of Muslim Religious Affairs affirmed that the statement made by Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera to the media recently contains derogatory remarks on Quran. The Director General of Muslim Religious Affairs had submitted this report on an order […]

By Meera Srinivasan Australia has denied Sri Lankan migrants’ allegations that they were abused and treated badly by its authorities in a recent mid-sea operation that has now spiralled into an issue of refugees’ safety. Australian Minister Scott Morrison, who was in Colombo, termed the claims by some of the 41 returned asylum-seekers “offensive.” “I […]

BY DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA Just as a criticism of the Ministry of Sports or the Cricket Control Board, are in no way a critique of Sri Lanka’s cricket team or its sportsmen and women, I must clarify that my critique of the Defense bureaucracy is in no way a critique of the Sri Lankan armed […]

Brazilians’ leonine roar which reverberated through Belo Horizonte at the outset of the FIFA semifinals on Tuesday gave way to an agonizing groan heard continents away. With shock and dismay, football crazy Brazilians watched their beloved Selecao collapse under a German onslaught. Mournful sighs that 200 million Brazilians collectively heaved, unable to come to terms […]

by Bandula Jayasekara I COULDN’T help reading over and over The Australian’s editorial of July 7 that said: “Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser doesn’t help his standing by likening the return of Tamils to Sri Lanka to handing over Jewish refugees to Nazi Germany. Such intemperance can only damage Mr Fraser’s cause.” It certainly has, […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya yesterday said there was a requirement to govern the NGO sector to ensure that it didn’t operate beyond its mandate. Addressing the weekly media briefing at the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), Brig. Wanigasooriya said that the NGO sector was governed by rules and regulations introduced […]

By Karu Jayasuriya Striking a chilling blow to civil society and the freedom of assembly and free expression in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Defence has issued a circular to Non Governmental Organisations virtually banning them from expressing views to the public. The circular that has been sent out to over 1000 NGOs from the […]

President Barack Obama today announced his intent to nominate the current US Envoy in Sri Lanka Ambassador Michele J. Sison as Deputy Ambassador of the United States in the UN and Security Council of the United Nations. Ambassador Michele J. Sison, a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, was confirmed by the U.S. […]

Bodu Bala Sena Leader Ven.Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera said Pope Francis should apologise to Sri Lankan Buddhists over the alleged atrocities committed by Christian colonialists. “Previous Popes have publicly apologised to certain countries because they destroyed, they killed. We had a similar situation, where most of the Buddhist temples were destroyed by them and Buddhist […]

By Upul Joseph Fernando About a month ago, State media posted a photo of US Ambassador in Colombo Michele J. Sison tagged as common candidate of the Opposition. The State owned Dinamina newspaper ran a lead news story stating that there was a battle to become the Opposition’s common candidate. The report said that the […]

By Dasun Edirisinghe Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) organisation yesterday demanded that the government ban the National Shoora Council (NSC), which also went as the National Consultative Council. Addressing a media conference at the BBS Operations Office in Kirulapone, its General Secretary Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera said that NSC was a part of an administrative structure […]

Twenty three Buddhist organizations have issued a joint statement, which they claim to be the true story behind the Aluthgama clashes. They also expressed disappointment over the manner in which the media reported the incident saying it was evident that a media censorship imposed by the authorities prevented the media from reporting the truth. The […]

by Vishwamithra 1984 “The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” ~Ernest Hemingway This missive or column, whatever you may call it, is intended for all those […]