by William McGowan In Sri Lanka last September, a Sinhalese mob led by some 100 Buddhist monks demolished a Muslim shrine in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. As the crowd waved Buddhist colors, gold and red, a monk set a green Muslim flag on fire. The monks claimed that the shrine was on land that [...]
Archive of entries posted on 2nd August 2012
Sri Lankan Govt deeply unwilling to prosecute soldiers and police for atrocities
by Human Rights Watch Sri Lanka: Massacre of Aid Workers Goes Unpunished Six Years On, Government Fails to Prosecute Responsible Military, Police The Sri Lankan government’s failure to hold accountable those responsible for the execution-style slaying of 17 aid workers six years ago is indicative of its deeper unwillingness to prosecute soldiers and police for [...]
How Can we Hand Over to Govt the Right to Impose Death as a Penalty for Crime?
by Roel Raymond How is it that concerned parents, activists and citizens of this island find it possible to hand over to a government incapable thus far of even acknowledging injustices to women, children and other marginalized sections of our society, the right to impose death as a penalty for crime? Do people truly have [...]
Universities Need To Be Given Better Resources As Higher Education Is An Investment In Human Capital
by Prof.Wiswa Warnapala At the beginning, university education in Sri Lanka began as a middle class preserve, as it, in the very initial period, catered to the demand of the students from a select number of public schools in the country. university education, in the early period, was built on a theory of elites, which, [...]
If FUTA Loses Strike the Best and Brightest University teachers will Move to Private Sector or go abroad
by Dileni Gunewardena There is trouble in the universities and trouble in the schools. While frustrated students and academics have taken to the streets, there has been much posturing among those responsible for the state of education and higher education in this country. This article attempts to counter prevalent misconceptions about the nature, motivation and [...]
FUTA de-links pay hike and education allocation demands in strategic move to resolve strike
By Shamindra Ferdinando The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) yesterday separated its ongoing strike to win a pay hike from the overall push for an agreement with the government on the allocation of 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for education. FUTA Chief Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri asserted that even if [...]
S.A. David: Gandhiyan Architect of Sri Lankan Tamils
by B.Kolappan “LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran failed to take into consideration the changing geo-political situation” There is nothing about the wizened old man with a free-flowing beard that suggests he was a sought-after architect, who’d been a senior town planner in Liverpool, United Kingdom, and later became the chief architect and town planner of Mombasa [...]
Jaffna Mayoress Yogeswary Patkunarajah is a Woman of Action
by Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar The administrative area of the Jaffna town is identified with the administrative area of the Jaffna Municipal Council. It’s origin could be traced to the Medieval Tamil Kingdoms of Jaffna which have been strong between the 13th century to the 16th century. According to Professor K M de Silva in his book [...]
China is likely to increasingly display unilateral tendencies on territory and sovereignty related issues
By Abanti Bhattacharya In the most dangerous turn of events in the South China Sea, on July 23, China’s military body, the Central Military Commission approved the deployment of the People’s Liberation Army to guard the islands claimed by it. Earlier in June, China’s State Council had raised the administrative status of the seas to [...]
