By Tisaranee Gunasekara “And the people bowed and prayed, To the neon god they made” Simon and Garfunkel (The Sound of Silence) How more blatant can it get? President Mahinda Rajapaksa had reportedly wanted a special exposition of Kapilawastu-relics at Temple Trees. ‘Relic diplomacy’ is a standard weapon in the arsenal of those in possession [...]
Archive of entries posted on 15th September 2012
Skewed Democracy Enables Defeated UPFA to Form Govt in the East
by M.A. Sumanthiran MP The Tamil People of this country have one big complaint. They’ve had it for over sixty years. The ‘democracy’ that is practised in this country since ‘independence’ in 1948 is nothing but majoritarianism. When the colonial masters left, we were handed over to the Sinhalese to rule over us. Not even [...]
Duminda, Mervyn and Malaka are the ‘Silva Symptoms’ of a Plague Called Rajapaksa Rule
by Tisaranee Gunasekara “What sheer unfeeling idiocy”. Rolf Hochhuth (The Deputy) In Sri Lanka ‘War Hero’ reigns supreme; he is feted and honoured, loved and respected, invoked and venerated. In the abstract! In the concrete, flesh and blood war heroes plant grass and pull weeds, sweep sidewalks and carry garbage, build and maintain exercise tracks [...]
Blake Visit Shows Continuing Concern of US About Sri Lanka
by Namini Wijedasa A top US official passed through Sri Lanka last week with a fresh dose of pressure on everything from the business environment and elections to accountability and demilitarization. Significantly, this is US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake’s last visit to Sri Lanka before the US presidential election. An observer of US-Sri [...]
FUTA Strike Action and Trade Unionism at Jaffna University
by Ahilan Kadirgamar With the university teachers on strike for over two months, what has been most impressive about this struggle is its national character and independence from party politics. The public debate created by the breadth and commitment of this struggle provides great hope for rethinking our political culture and people’s participation in shaping [...]
Malaka Silva,Rehan Wijeratne and the Assault on an Army Major: What Really Happened?
by Frederica Jansz Rehan Wijeratne was the first to arrive at Apartment 15/03 at the JAIC Hilton on Saturday September 8. The time was around 6 p.m. The apartment had been rented for a day by his best friend and buddy Malaka Silva. The two boys have told their friends that they had done so [...]
