In late April, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former defence secretary and the brother of a past president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, announced that he would contest the presidential election that is due to be held in late 2019. The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that he is likely to win that contest, and in this article we look at …
In April this year, Ahimsa Wickrematunge filed a lawsuit against former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the District Court of Central California, alleging his involvement in her father Lasantha Wickrematunge’s 2009 assassination. In response, on 27 June, a petition was filed on behalf of Rajapaksa before the District Court, requesting a dismissal of Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s …
(Former Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary H.M. G. S. Palihakkara Delivered the keynote speech at the inauguration of the BCIS Diploma Course on March 9th 2019 on the theme “Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy Challenges”. Given the ongoing debate about SOFA,ACSA BRI, India and SL’s foreign policy posture , Relevant excerpts from the keynote speech are published …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene There is a tragic disconnect between what Sri Lanka’s leaders say to the public and the patent disbelief with which these words are received. This will eventually have dangerous repercussions beyond the electoral defeat of those men, impacting on the nation as a whole as it is pushed in a perilous …
by Sanjana Hattotuwa Do not buy ‘Upon a Sleepless Isle’.The author, Andrew Fidel Fernando,is better known for his sporting columns. This is his first book – described as a labour of love–a term usually reserved for how parents think of juvenile delinquents when they were born & still beautiful.The Lonely Planet inspired cover suggests a …
By Sugeeswara Senadhira Red Indian Chief, Seattle, in his speech known as ‘letter’ made a ‘powerful, bittersweet plea for the respect of Native American rights and environmental values.’ President Maithripala Sirisena quoted Seattle at the inauguration of the Moragahakanda-Kaluganga Multi-purpose project and said that the wars since ancient times were for either land or water …
By Shamara Wettimuny The recent Easter attacks targeting a number of churches and hotels devastated Sri Lanka. Over 250 people were killed, and many more injured. Within days of the attack, it emerged that the perpetrators of the attack were affiliated to radical Islamist groups in Sri Lanka. However, the identification of the perpetrators as …
Continue reading ‘A brief history of anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka’ »
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake President Sirisena must be enjoying his stay in Britain, watching the campaign for the election of the next Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, there. Will he be getting new ideas for an anti-democratic leadership campaign for the SLFP, even the SLPP, and to again be the common candidate at the coming …
By P.K.Balachandran The simultaneous bombing of four posh hotels and three churches in Sri Lanka by a bunch of Islamic radicals on April 21 Easter Sunday, was clearly not aimed at the island’s majority Sinhalese Buddhist community as the targets indicate. And yet, a noticeable consequence of the terrorist act is the revival of a …
By Hannah Beech GINTOTA, Sri Lanka — The Buddhist abbot was sitting cross-legged in his monastery, fulminating against the evils of Islam, when the petrol bomb exploded within earshot. But the abbot, the Venerable Ambalangoda Sumedhananda Thero, barely registered the blast. Waving away the mosquitoes swarming the night air in the southern Sri Lankan town …
Continue reading ‘The Rise of Militant Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.’ »
Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary revoked a three-month detention order against a Muslim doctor incarcerated on a false charge of sterilising Buddhist women, but a court in Kurunegala remanded him after protests by Buddhist monks. The bizarre turn of events at the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court came despite state attorney Thusith Mudalige acknowledging that there was no …
Professionals affiliated to former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa were described as ‘misogynists’ after they denied the existence of sexually harassment of women in public transport and on the streets. An organisation called the Viyathmaga which promotes Rajapaksa as a presidential candidate rejected remarks of senior editor of the Daily FT, Marianne David, who focused on …
By Ashwin Hemmathagama The Vote on the No-Confidence Motion presented by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was defeated yesterday in Parliament with a majority of 27 votes, with 119 lawmakers voting against the Motion and 92 votes received in favour. Thirteen lawmakers including United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MPs Udaya Gammanpila, Duminda Dissanayake, Dr. V. …
By Chandani Kirinde The Attorney General (AG) yesterday directed police to recommence investigations into the killing of five students in Trincomalee in 2006, after all 13 accused in the case were acquitted last week. In a letter to the Acting IGP, the AG directed that the police trace and record the evidence of three vital …
By Chandani Kirinde The Attorney General will file a revision application in the Colombo High Court against the bail order in favour of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, given by Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne yesterday. AG Department spokesperson State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said that revision application …
By Manopriya Gunasekera Colombo Chief Magistrate yesterday granted bail to former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundera saying there was not enough grounds to charge them with murder. Former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara were remanded on charges of criminal negligence and murder for failing to …
A fresh petition has been filed before the Supreme Court against the proposed State Lands (Special Provisions) Bill that was moved in Parliament by the Government recently. The petition said the proposed bill is against Sri Lanka’s Constitution and seeks a court order calling for a two-thirds majority in Parliament as well as a referendum …
By Chitra Weerarathne An ordinary farmer who owned about a quarter acre of land, after selling it to a multinational company would be destitute, said President’s Counsel Manohara de Silva in the Supreme Court yesterday when he supported a petition against the Lands (Special Provision) Bill. The petitioner was MP Udaya Gammanpila. Manohara de Silva …
By “A Retired Government Agent” The government seems to be in a mighty hurry to grant outright ownership to those who have their land holdings under the Land Development Ordinance of 1935. The introduction and the implementation of the Land Development Ordinance 1935 was one of the most important welfare measures taken before independence. It …
By Rathindra Kuruwita The Ranil Wickremesinghe administration was attempting to create a cheap labour force needed to facilitate the implementation of neoliberal economic policies, by amending` land laws, Chinthaka Rajapakshe, Convener of the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) said commenting on the scheme to grant outright ownership of land to one million people.
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka DEW Gunasekara belonged to a great progressive camp and powerful current in world history: that of socialism, tracing its origins back to the October Revolution of 1917 (and intellectually to 1848 and the Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx), and led globally and historically by the land of Lenin. In choosing that path, …
Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero yesterday pledged to build a Sinhala Parliament that would enable the Sinhala people to decide policy and laws as they wished, which in his view, is essential to rejuvenate the country. Speaking in Kandy, the Thero was insistent that hung Parliaments where minority political …
By M.K. Bhadrakumar The Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on 21st April in which 259 people were killed and over 500 injured were initially attributed to the Islamic State (IS). But no hard evidence is available to substantiate such a reading and it remains an open question as to the perpetrators. The Sri …
By Chandeepa Wettasinghe Students in Sri Lanka’s education system are being ridiculed and are facing ‘punishment’ for using stationery produced by a firm caught in an anti-Muslim boycott, an official said. Atlas Axillia, a top stationary and publishing company has been targeted by anti-Muslim activists following suicide attacks by an extremist Islamist group, some of …
By Maneksha Borham Two key suspects in the Avant Garde floating armoury case had already left the island shortly before Attorney General Dappula De Livera ordered the CID to arrest eight individuals implicated in the high profile money laundering and illegal weapons smuggling investigation. The CID had informed the Attorney General that Chairman of Avant …
By Sanjana Hattotuwa Every year, for close upon two decades, on Christmas Day, I watch ‘Love Actually’. There is a scene in it where Hugh Grant, playing the British PM, takes on the American President, played by Billy Bob Thornton. The trans-Atlantic relationship between the UK and US, in the film, is strained by the …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene There is palpable confusion in the air. Is Sri Lanka’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujitha Jayasundara, arrested this week along with former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando on a range of offences under the Penal Code, including murder and causing death by negligence, still holding the position of head of the …
By Anurangi Singh A five-judge bench constituted for the first time in the history of the Court of Appeal heard lengthy submissions on the writ application filed to prevent the execution of four prisoners condemned to death, having been convicted on drug trafficking offences. All last week, the CA bench led by President of the …
By Dharisha Bastians and Anurangi Singh A 43-year moratorium on executing the death sentence has become entrenched in the law and in the mind of every High Court judge that hands down the death sentence, Counsel for a prisoner condemned to death and challenging the decision to resume judicial hangings told the Supreme Court on …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake There is a political dancer of much experience giving a display of performing skills. “Ellungas Sira” who has little if any of maithriya associated with his performances today, sees the gallows and scaffold as his theatre of deadly political delight. It was not a very difficult move from being the Common Candidate …
Dr Nihal Jayawickrama When President Sirisena announced his intention to hang the convicted drug offenders lingering in the death cells of the Welikada prison, he was congratulated by President Duterte of the Philippines.When he returned from a recent visit to the Philippines, President Sirisena publicly expressed his admiration of the manner in which President Duterte …
By S.S. Selvanayagam The Supreme Court yesterday issued an Interim Order preventing implementation of the death penalty till 30 October. The Supreme Court granted Interim Relief directing the Commissioner General of Prisons and the Welikada Prison Superintendent to immediately desist from executing any prisoner consequent to a death warrant signed by the President. The Bench …
By Anbarasan EthirajanBBC At a funeral for one of the victims of Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombings, a grief-stricken relative wailed and shouted: “We need Gota, We need Gota.” She was referring to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the wartime defence chief who played a leading role in crushing Tamil rebels in a bloody civil war which ended …
Continue reading ‘Gotabhaya Rajapaksa: The Wartime Strongman who Wants to run Sri Lanka’ »
By A. T. M. Gunananda The STF and Police personnel accused of killing five students in Trincomalee were acquitted yesterday after a lengthy trial. Thirteen suspects including 12 STF personnel and a policeman held in connection with the killing of five persons including two undergraduates and injuring two others by shooting near the Gandhi roundabout …
By Amadoru Amarajeewa Twelve STF personnel and one police officer who were charged for killing five people including two university students at the Gandhi Roundabout in Trincomalee on January 2, 2006 were acquitted from all charges today after lengthy hearing by Trincomalee Chief Magistrate M.M. Mohammed Hamza. The CID had filed charges against them under …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka is on the verge of signing the highly controversial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States, which, according to strategic experts, could theoretically make the island nation a happy hunting ground of “millions” of US servicemen, Defense Department personnel and Defense Department contractors. On the anvil is another controversial …
By Bandula Jayasekara Sirisa Pathikada programme stepped into its fifth year on 1 July 2019, celebrating summers, winters, autumns and springs. We had Admiral Ravi Wijegunaratne, Chief of Defence Staff as our special guest on the programme and shared our happiness and joy with traditional kiribath. Pathikada is aired on Sirasa Television on weekdays from …
By Chathuri Dissanayake The Colombo Magistrate yesterday remanded both IGP Pujitha Jayasundara and former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Hemasiri Fernando until today, for neglecting their duty to prevent the terror attacks on Easter Sunday, which killed over 250 people. Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne placed the two top officials in remand custody, after …
By Chandani Kirinde Attorney General Dappula De Livera yesterday directed the Acting IGP to produce IGP Pujith Jayasundera and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando in court saying the two stand accused of “grave crimes against humanity” for gross negligence of their duties which led to the 21 April terror attacks. In a hard-hitting letter sent …
Sri Lanka’s police chief and a top defence official should be tried for “grave crimes against humanity” over failure to prevent Easter bombings that killed 258, the state prosecutor said Monday. Dappula de Livera said Inspector-General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando failed to act on advance warnings of the deadly April …
By Lahiru Pothmulla The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) today said Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake has lied with regard to a call made by former minister Rishad Bathiudeen asking him about an arrested suspect in the Army custody. Addressing a news conference, PHU Leader Udaya Gammanpila said Army Commander Senanayake has said in an interview with …
If President Sirisena went ahead with the executions, he, as a Buddhist, would never be able to sleep peacefully as the ghosts of the four hanged convicts would haunt him forever, national list United National Party (UNP) MP Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne said yesterday. “President Sirisena has on more than one occasion gone back on promises …
The President said Monday(july 1) he had rejected a telephone appeal by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to reconsider his push to reintroduce the death penalty after 43 years. “I told the Secretary General that I want to save my country from drugs,” Maithripala Sirisena told a meeting in Colombo to mark his anti-narcotics drive. …
By S.S. Selvanayagam President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to resume judicial hangings in Sri Lanka after 43 years has continued to run into a storm of opposition, as a spate of petitioners filed fundamental rights cases in the Supreme Court yesterday, seeking to stay the executions. Four prisoners condemned to death are among those who have …
By Aanya Wipulasena R. Parameshwari smiles humbly as she walks into the premises of 150A, Vipulasena Mawatha, Colombo 10. Escorted by a female companion she approaches a small group gathered at the entrance to a hall that could comfortably accommodate at least 100 people. Clad in a pink t-shirt and a long white skirt with …
By Anurangi Singh “Then I awake and look around me At four grey walls that surround me And I realize: Yes, I was only dreaming For there’s a guard And there’s a sad old padre Arm in arm we’ll walk at daybreak Again, I’ll touch The green, green grass of home” The famous ballad Green, …
By Uditha Kumarasinghe Former Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen testifying before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks, said on Friday (28) that the allegations being made by some opposition lawmakers linking him to the extremist terrorist group that carried out the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks, emerged from the …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene For good reason and going by past bitter experience, Sri Lankans have learnt to distrust wildly acrimonious statements by their two quarrelling ‘yahapalanaya’ (good governance) leaders, President Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe as a doomed political entanglement unravels amidst mutual personal distaste. But with acrimony between the two men deepening each …
“THEY,” LIKE its cousin “them,” sounds an innocent word. Given the wrong context, though, even a simple pronoun can turn insidious. Since a pack of suicide-bombers, claiming to act in the name of Islam, killed 261 people on Easter morning, Sri Lanka’s 2m Muslims have collectively felt that turn. After a thousand peaceful years as …
By Anurangi Singh and Aanya Wipulasena A Fundamental Rights petition filed in the Supreme Court by Dr Shafi Shihabdeen details a stunning and elaborate plot to frame the medical officer of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, spearheaded by a top cop of the area, which culminated in the ‘sterilisation scare’ that took the country by storm …
By Aanya Wipulasena Forty days after Dr. Seigu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), evidence gathered by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) showed that the allegations of forcible sterilization by the senior medical officer were based on speculation fuelled by media reports. This week, …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Is the Head of State and Government, the Commander-in-Chief of forces one who is mentally suitable to hold such office? Recent statements by President Sirisena have raised major questions about the status of mind of the person, and his commitment to both the process and the principles that saw his election as …
By Saman Indrajith Former Minister of Industry Rishad Bathiudeen told Parliamentary Select Committee probing the Easter Sunday carnage yesterday that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, former Minister of Industry Piyasena Gamage and former Minister Prof GL Peiris had known Yusuf Mohamed Ibrahim, the father of two suicide bombers who carried out …
By Manopriya Gunasekera The Attorney General (AG) yesterday filed indictments against former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Maahendran, his son-in-law Perpetual Treasuries owner Arjun Aloysius and eight others before the three-member Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar. Co-ordinating Officer to the AG State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne, stated that the Special High Court has summoned the accused to appear …
By S. S. Selvanayagam The Commissioner General of Prisons yesterday undertook to the Court of Appeal that no prisoner would be executed within the next seven days from Friday. He gave this undertaking when the Writ Petition against the implementation of the death sentence came up before the Court of Appeal before the Bench comprising …
By Chandani Kirinde Former Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen told a Parliamentary Committee yesterday that the allegations being made by Opposition MPs linking him to the terrorist group that carried out the Easter day attacks have to do with his refusal to support the October political coup. “The attacks against me are politically …
By Aanya Wipulasena The Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has written to the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chandana Depal Wickramaratne on Friday (21) calling for a probe into the recent statements made by the Chief Prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter Warakagoda Gnanarathana Thera, and saying the remarks advocated national, racial and religious hatred. …
By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera Acting IGP C.D. Wickramaratne has informed the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to probe Easter Sunday attack that according to the investigations carried out into the complaints against former minister Rishad Bathiudeen so far, there is no evidence to show that the minister was involved in the Easter Sunday …
(Text of a Media Release Issued by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) in Washington and Johannesburg on June 27th 2019) Sri Lanka’s presidential hopeful, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, faces ten new claims for damages in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from victims of torture inflicted while he was secretary of …
The interrogation of a hardcore National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) leader recently extradited from Saudi Arabia has led to the single biggest detection of explosives belonging to the now proscribed organisation. The police identified the suspect as Hayathu Mohammadu Ahamed Milhan, a close associate of Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of Easter Sunday bombing campaign. Zahran triggered …
By Uditha Jayasinghe President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday expressed stern views regarding the 19th Amendment, describing it as a “curse” on the country and insisting abolishing it should be done before the Presidential elections or that must be the first task undertaken by the new President. President Sirisena, addressing media heads in Colombo, was repentant of …
By Chandani Kirinde A controversial circular that made it mandatory for women in the State sector to wear either the saree or osari to work will be amended to include appropriate attire that is “decent and upholds the respectability of the public service”. The draft circular got approval of Cabinet on Tuesday. The circular adds …
By Chandani Kirinde Army Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake yesterday told a Parliamentary committee that there is no “imminent” threat of another terrorist attack but it is also not practical to say this problem is completely over. “We cannot give a percentage and say that the problem has been solved by this percent but given …
By Saman Indrajith Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks was told, yesterday, that the President’s Office and the Defence Ministry functioning under President Maithripala Sirisena had helped Colossus (Pvt) Ltd. a factory owned by Yusuf Mohamed Ibrahim, the father of two the suicide bombers who carried out Sunday attacks, for manufacturing non-ferrous …
Sri Lanka’s police Tuesday stepped in to prevent a local council from banning Muslim traders from a weekly fair in another backlash from the devastating Easter attacks blamed on Islamic extremists. The local government body had ordered minority Muslims not to participate in the farmer’s market in the town of Dankotuwa, 47 kilometres (30 miles) …
By Sanja de Silva Jayatilleka On Easter Sunday this year, Sri Lankan people came face to face with international terrorism for the first time. At several international security conferences held in the Russian Federation over the last three months, the theme of international terrorism forming a part of ‘hybrid threats’ was discussed at length, with …
Continue reading ‘Growing Global Consensus on Terrorism, Hybrid Threats and National Security.’ »
by Sanjana Hattotuwa “Why isn’t anything going on in the senate? Why are the senators sitting there without legislating? Because the barbarians are coming today. What’s the point of senators making laws now? Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do the legislating” – Waiting for the Barbarians, C P Cavafy To condone the stoning of …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Muslim people don’t love us… I say don’t go to those shops. Don’t eat or drink from those shops…. It is clear that they are a group who gave poison to our people, who tried to destroy our people… I think that the younger generation who eats (from them) will not have …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene This week, a small child died of malnutrition in Tissamaharama at the same time that Sri Lanka’s Parliament debated the passing of millions of public funds to purchase luxury vehicles for Ministers as well as former President and current Opposition Leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Laid out in her white coffin, dark and …
Muslims in Sri Lanka say they fear new attacks after a top Buddhist monk called for violence against members of the religious minority, claiming a Muslim doctor had sterilised thousands of Buddhist women. Activists, politicians and members of the Muslim minority said Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero’s speech last week was likely to fan communal tensions, …
by Jayantha Somasundaram Mervyn de Silva 20TH Death Anniversary: June 22nd “Wandering between two worlds, one dead/The other powerless to be born” – Matthew Arnold On June 22 1999, as the twentieth century drew to an end, Mervyn de Silva left us. At that time, one could sense that with his passing, an era in …
Continue reading ‘In Tenuous Times: Mervyn de Silva’s Progressive Liberalism From the South’ »
By S.Sandarage I observed the news item in relation to the order issued by the Attorney General Dappula de Livera to Acting Inspector General Chandana Wickramaratne to take disciplinary action against the nine police officers including three DIGs. This order was based on the final report of the three-member presidential committee which investigated lapses that …
(Excerpted from the “Sunday Times” of Sri Lanka) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, declared India’s cherubic High Commissioner, Taranjit Singh Sandhu at a recent lecture, is “not only the leader of the largest democracy in the world, but also a leader with the largest popular mandate in the world.” True. There are more attributes to Premier …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Sri Lanka faced and fought a terrorist threat for thirty years and prevailed, ten years ago. Just recently, on Easter Sunday, we were confronted by a new terrorist threat. So, Sri Lanka is not apologetic, when I say that we view all these problems through the prism of the existential threat that …
By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Justice Minister Thalatha Athukorala said yesterday that Minister Sajith Premadasa will definitely be the next President of the country and that he would get the blessings of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in this regard. She made this prediction on the occasion of the 204th model village, named “Katurodagama,’ that was constructed …
The Head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka on Thursday issued a scathing criticism of the Government over the Easter attacks that killed more than 250 people, decrying a “total lack of interest” in determining why intelligence reports were ignored. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith spoke of his frustrations just hours before he was due to …
Sri Lanka has initiated criminal investigations against nine officers over lapses leading to the Easter Sunday attacks, but the head of state intelligence Nilantha Jayawardena and IGP Pujith Jauasundara have been spared. Attorney-General Dappula de Livera in a letter to Acting Inspector General Chandana Wickramaratne ordered that disciplinary action be taken against the nine men, …
By Chandani Kirinde Intelligence officers were tipped about the possible whereabouts of Zahran Hashim about a month before the 21 April attacks and were also given a telephone number of the terror attack mastermind’s brother in a bid to help track him down, a witness before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) inquiring into the incidents …
By Chandani Kirinde A representative of the Sufi community told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) investigating the Easter Sunday attacks that members of his sect were at the receiving end of regular vicious verbal attacks by Zahran Hashim, the leader of the terror group. Al Haj Abdul Jawadh Alim Waliyyullah Trust Secretary Sufi Moulavi K.R.M. …
By Manopriya Gunasekera Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne yesterday directed Power and Energy Minister Ravi Karunanayake and his wife to give a statement to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on 7 July in connection with making false statements before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry during an investigation into fraudulent bond transactions. He and his wife …
S. Vijay Kumar Heightened security arrangements are in place across Tamil Nadu, particularly in the western districts, following intelligence inputs from a central agency on a terror module planning to target vital installations in South India. Police sources said a three-member cell named ‘Abu Alqital’ was formed to target upscale restaurants, places of worship, shopping …
UNP Chairman Kabir Hashim yesterday said he had decided to accept his previous Ministry portfolio after giving deep consideration to appeals made by the most Venerable Mahanayake Theras, other religious representatives, his district voters, the Muslim community, the Prime Minister, the President and Minister Sajith Premadasa. Former ministers Kabir Hashim and M.H.A.Haleem, who resigned from …
The Criminal Investigations Department has secured judicial orders forcing the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital director to cooperate with their investigation into the alleged illegal sterilization of Sinhala Buddhist women. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the CID which took over the case on May 27 asked and secured an order from the Kurunegala magistrate forcing hospital director …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Wednesday slammed a Buddhist monk’s controversial comments targeting Muslims and urged “true Buddhists” to unite against the “Talibanisation” of the religion. In a tweet he posted on Wednesday morning, Mr. Samaraweera said: “True Buddhists must unite NOW against the Talibanization of our great philosophy of …
A top Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has accused minority Muslims of destroying the island’s majority Sinhalese community and called for drastic action, including the boycott of their businesses. The chief prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter of Buddhism launched the tirade against Muslims on Saturday during a ceremony at the Kitsiri Mevan temple near the …
(This is a Rough English translation of Irrational, Racist Anti-Muslim comments made publicly in Sinhala by the Asgiriya Mahanayake Ven.Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero published in srilankabrief.org) “We got to know some good news. That in the future, Chamal Rajapaksa will become President. This is in fact cause for happiness. We didn’t know this before. I …
Former Ministers Kabir Hashim and M.H.A. Haleem, who resigned recently, were sworn in again in their previous portfolios before President Maithripala Sirisena a short while ago. Accordingly, Hashim was sworn in as the Minister of Highways, Road Development & Petroleum Resources Development, while Haleem was sworn in as the Posts, Postal Services and Muslim Religious …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya Speculation that Western intelligence agencies had a hand in the well-coordinated, precision-timed Easter suicide bombings in Sri Lanka arises from a number of sources and circumstances. Analysts are still trying to figure out how the little known group ‘National Thawheed Jamaath’ (NTJ) could have orchestrated such a feat. The terror group known …
By Saman Indrajith Zharan Hashim’s call for the Muslims to kill people of other faiths had been brought to the notice of President Maithripala Sirisena in March, 2017, but there had been no response, the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday carnage was informed yesterday. Testifying before the committee, Secretary of Al Haj …
By Saman Indrajith Easter Sunday carnage mastermind Zahran Hashim’s aide Army Mohideen had been an army informant, Parliament Select committee probing the Easter Sunday carnage was told yesterday. Former OIC of Kattankudy police station Chief Inspector Ariyabandu Welagedera told the PSC that Army Mohideen had maintained links with the army and was known as an …
By Saman Indrajith The Parliament Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday carnage was told yesterday that prior intelligence reports on the terror attacks by Zahran Hazhim’s group had not been provided to the police station in the Kattankudi area, where the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) operated from. Testifying before the PSC, Kattankudy OIC IP …
The senior-most police officer in the North-Western province is under investigation for attempting to cause racial hatred by planting reports of mass sterilization taking place at the Kurunegala teaching hospital, a police official said. Deputy Inspector-General Kithsiri Jayalath is facing an internal inquiry into his conduct over what has become a deeply divisive issue over …
by Lisa Fuller & Rukshana Rizwie Hasalaka, Sri Lanka – On May 17, police in central Sri Lanka arrested Abdul Raheem Mazahina, a soft-spoken 47-year-old grandmother, because of the pattern on her dress. The dress’s motifs look like ship wheels, but police told Mazahina, a Muslim, they were arresting her because the pattern resembled the …
Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne says that his colleague Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s argument for importing Chinese cigarettes does not hold water and he is dead against the move. Finance Minister Samaraweera was planning to allow the importation of Chinese cigarettes on the grounds that the Chinese workers in Sri Lanka …
By Ifham Nizam Visitor arrival at the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwela has increased since the Easter Sunday bomb attacks caused the arrivals to drop to single digits. Deputy Director of the Zoo Anoma Priyadharshini told The Island that arrivals had increased to between 1,000 and 1,500 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as against the …
By The “Sunday Times” Political Editor President Maithripala Sirisena wants to conduct a parliamentary general election first after seeking approval at a non-binding national referendum. Towards this end, sources close to the Presidency said, he has sought the opinion of the Attorney General Dappula de Livera. He has concurred that the move was possible but …
By P.K.Balachandran In most countries, terrorist attacks would have some economic impact, especially on the tourism sector, with little or no impact on society or polity. But in Sri Lanka, the impact of the April 21 multiple bombings has been unusually and extraordinarily wide in social, political , economic and constitutional terms. Constitutional Impasse or …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene The recent statement by former Eastern Province Governor M.L.M. Hizbullah that Muslims are a majority in the world and that Sri Lankan Muslims should not fear even if they are a minority is dangerously inflammatory. It also amounts to an encouragement of the primitive cacophonous yelling on the part of Sinhala …
🍁🏆 By Danesh Thirukumaran 🏀 Mission accomplished. Despite the Raptors inability to display multiple superstars at the forefront similar to many championship teams in the past, they were able to overcome much adversity and were crowned 2018-2019 NBA Champions. They were able to defeat the star laden Golden State Warriors, although injuries did play a …
By Rukshana Rizwie and Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe The probe into the Easter Sunday bomb attacks and the extremist terrorist cell behind it receives a fillip with the arrival in Colombo yesterday of five arrested terror suspects including Mohamed Milhan alias Abu Seelan who is believed to be the chosen successor of National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ) …
By Shamindra Ferdinando . The police have begun questioning five persons, including Hayathu Mohamed Milhan, who had alleged links with the Easter Sunday suicide bombers. The suspects arrested in the Middle East, following the April 21 attacks, were extradited yesterday. They were the first Easter Sunday suspects to be extradited since the high profile investigation …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Amidst much snigger raised from the massive political farce taking place in the country today, there is an even more cause for worry and rising fear on the very future of our society. The politicians, those in government and opposition, are certainly having a great time, calculating the votes they will gain …
By Chandani Kirinde Former Governor of the Eastern Province M.L.A.M. Hizbullah told a Parliamentary Select Committee yesterday that he lost the 2015 General Election because Mohamed Zahran, who masterminded the Easter Sunday terror attacks, had worked against him. “In the General Elections, Zahran worked against me. I couldn’t get around 2,000 votes because of him. …
By Meera Srinivasan Easter attacks mastermind Zahran Hashim campaigned for Maithripala Sirisena ahead of the January 2015 presidential elections, according to former Governor of the Eastern Province, M.L.A.M. Hizbullah. Testifying before a parliamentary committee probing Easter bombings, the politician, who is based in Hashim’s hometown Kattankudy in the Eastern Province, said on Thursday: “I campaigned …
By Chandani Kirinde Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday said that the country needs strong political leaders who work courageously for the good of the country and its people and those who love the country more than they love themselves. “The country needs honest political leaders who have a backbone, who do no wrong deeds and who …
By Chandani Kirinde Mohamed Zahran, the man who masterminded the Easter Day terror attacks, had prohibited students from standing up for the National Anthem, threatened teachers who organised school concerts, and created a fear psychosis among the people in general, a representative of the Kattankudy Federation of Mosques and Muslims Institutions told a Parliament Committee …
By Meera Srinivasan A former Governor and prominent Muslim politician has accused the Rajapaksa government of being complacent while its military intelligence unit “worked closely” with the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ), the radical Islamist organisation behind the Easter bombings. Azath Salley was one of the two Muslim Governors who stepped down from office earlier this …
By Vijaita Singh The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday detained a Facebook friend of Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka, along with five others in Coimbatore. NIA alleged that the prime suspect Mohammed Azharudheen, 32, and his associates were “propagating the ideology of proscribed terrorist organization Islamic State on …
( This is the text of a media release issued by the office of the Leader of the Opposition. It is a Translation of a speech made by the Leader of the Opposition Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday, 11 June 2019 at his official residence on Wijerama Mawatha Colombo.) Venerable members of the Maha Sangha, …
By E. Weerapperuma The historic Catholic shrine dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua in Colombo, Kochchikade, will celebrate the 185th feast of the Saint on Thursday at 10 a.m., with a trilingual festive High Mass offered at the Shrine. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith will be the officiating prelate. This Shrine coming down from the times of …
by Saman Indrajith Former Governor of the Western province Azath Salley yesterday told the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the Easter Sunday carnage that former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa had worked closely with Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaath, which was one of the organisations responsible for the April 21 attacks. Testifying before the PSC, which met yesterday …