By Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda Some people have made an argument that FUTA has exceeded the mandate of a trade union when it demands the government to allocate 6% of the GDP to education. This argument emanates from the position that trade unions have no business with government’s fiscal policy. According to the advocates of this …
By M. A. Sumanthiran M.P. In October last year I submitted to Parliament a 30-page report on the situation in the North and the East. I did not criticize the mere presence of military bases. ‘Militarization’ is not so passive a word as to denote only the military’s existence in a given zone. Instead the …
Although the International Community, despite continuing media exposure of the Sri Lankan government’s atrocities against the Tamils in Sri Lanka, appeases the Sri Lankan regime for economic and commercial reasons some highly influential European, US and Canadian Human Rights Organizations have refused to give respectability to one of the most reprehensible genocidal regimes in modern …
During President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s State visit to India in June 2010, it was agreed that Sri Lanka and India will undertake joint activities to commemorate the 2600th Year of Enlightenment of Gautama Buddha. Following this agreement, President Rajapaksa wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting for the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics to be sent to Sri …
Continue reading ‘Sacred Kapilavastu Relics Being Brought from India for Veneration in Sri Lanka’ »
By Shirajiv Sirimane Centuries ago, there was evidence to suggest that King Ravana of Sri Lanka used a wooden plane to fly across to India. However, since then, this amazing technology the Sri Lankans had was never heard of. During recent times, if someone said that Sri Lankans were to build an airplane, the world …
by Prof. M A Nuhman The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has had a direct impact on literary production in Tamil, comparatively greater than in the case of Sinhala. This is largely due to the fact that it has been the Tamil-speaking communities who were most directly and severely affected by the ethnic conflict throughout …
Continue reading ‘Ethnic Conflict and Tamil Poetry in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka’ »
By R.K.Radhakrishnan “At what point of your dance training can you develop a style of your own,” a student asked Bharatanatyam exponent Alarmel Valli at an interaction here on Friday. The elaborate answer’s crux was that timing depended on the person, ability, confidence, and creative impulse. “You will know when you are ready,” the dancer …
by Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne I finally went to Chennai and participated in Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) conference and the public meeting. The whole thing was effective in raising the plight of the Eelam Tamils. Even for a Marxist revolutionary there was a space to intervene with out conceding any principle. Though near 90 years of …
Continue reading ‘My Participation at TESO Conference and Public Meeting in Chennai’ »
by Our Political Editor Prasad Kariyawasam Summoned by South Block in New Delhi Ebullient and charming Ashok Kantha, India’s High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, the accomplished diplomat that he is, found it difficult to hide his feelings. That he chose to say it at a formal official ceremony that marked the 65th anniversary of India’s …
Continue reading ‘‘Ground Zero’ level Relationship Prevailing now Between New Delhi and Colombo’ »
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The bamboozle has captured us”. – Carl Sagan (The Demon-Haunted World) The Rajapaksa administration’s tryst with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is just two months away. India, Spain and Benin are assigned to review the Lankan case; indubitably, Delhi’s will be the decisive voice. The UPR report will be submitted to the …
Continue reading ‘Lies and Deceptions are Indispensable Weapons in the Rajapaksa Arsenal’ »
UNP Kurunegala district MP Dayasiri Jayasekera speaking to LAKBIMAnEWS admits that he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Parliament at the Ports and Highways Ministry Consultative Committee meetings. He however said he never met the president at Temple Trees as alleged by the UNP hierarchy. Excerpts: A report has been handed over to the party’s Disciplinary …
by Namini Wijedasa A senior minister has rejected any inference that Navi Pillay, the UN human rights chief, had deliberately assigned three countries that voted for a resolution against Sri Lanka to oversee a review of our rights situation due later this year. In fact, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) …
by Gamini Weerakoon The often used quote: An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country, has been given cynical and ambiguous interpretations by cynics such as an ambassador is one who is expected to lie in speech for his country or lie in bed for pleasure. Ambassadors will obviously deny …
by Victor Ivan The overall content of the social psyche of the current Sri Lankan society has run down to an appalling level of deterioration. The degree of degeneration is such that it has reached almost the point of putrefaction. This phenomenon is rather obvious and it can no longer be concealed. The religious institutions …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “….everything that was ever invented by knavery to impose upon imbecility”.Voltaire (A Philosophical Dictionary) The Rajapaksas are world class, and more, when it comes to building innocuous facades to hide insalubrious realties. Who would expect a bill regarding the self-employment scheme sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Development, a bill harmlessly, even …
by Kalana Senaratne Critically Re-imagining Lakshman Kadirgamar Ever since his brutal assassination in 2005, those of us who have admired Lakshman Kadirgamar have often imagined what Sri Lanka would have been like, had he remained at the helm of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy making. In this imagination, Kadirgamar re-appears as a hero, almost super-man like, …
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj August 12th 2005 was the day on which Lakshman Kadirgamar was killed by a sniper of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) concealed in the house of an unsuspecting neighbor. Sri Lanka’s foreign minister par excellence had just completed his customary 1000 metre swim at the pool in his residence, when the …
Continue reading ‘Lakshman Kadirgamar: Larger than Life Personality’ »
by Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. (Full Text of a presentation at the Seminar on Changing Social Dynamics in South Asia: Prospects and Challenges for India and Sri Lanka conducted by the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies and the observatory research Foundation on August 17th 2012) I am grateful to the Bandaranaike Centre and the Observatory Foundation …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj A Leading Christian Pastor of the Assembly of Church (AOG) and his wife have been brutally attacked by a mob of around 40 persons at Deniyaya in the Matara district of the Southern Province on August 9th. The attack on the senior AOG pastor and wife was followed by another incident in Deniyaya …
Swaziland’s government could be on a collision course with King Mswati III over the sacking of striking teachers. King Mswati pronounced last week that a national teachers’ pay strike that has crippled schools for more than five weeks should end; that teachers should go back to work and the government should enter into talks to …
Evans Gunalal Cooray, former press secretary to the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, passed away yesterday after a protracted illness in London. Born on February 13, 1936, Cooray served as an efficient press secretary to several ministries under both UNP and SLFP governments.
by S. J. Anthony Fernando (Former Press secretary to President Premadasa , Evans Gunalal Cooray,passed away on August 16th in London.This article written in 2006 by his colleague and friend to mark Cooray’s 70th Birthday is reporoduced here as tribute to Evans) The name of Evans Cooray, I am certain, needs no introduction. The mere …
Continue reading ‘Evans Cooray: Flamboyant and Robust Media Personality’ »
The translation of the whole text of the LLRC Report, into Sinhala and Tamil, undertaken and completed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, was handed over by Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal to External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, at the External Affairs Ministry yesterday.
By John J. Mearsheimer There is abundant speculation these days about whether Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. It is widely believed in both Israel and the United States that this would be a remarkably foolish move. I share that sentiment. Yet Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, seem to disagree …
Continue reading ‘Seven Reasons Netanyahu And Barak Might Want War With Iran’ »
by A Special Correspondent ‘Sinhalisation’ of Tamil areas is a ruse used by the Sri Lankan government to take over land, seashore and other resources of Tamils and hand them over to multinational companies, alleged Vickramabahu Karunaratne, president of the Nava Sama Samaj Party, on Monday. Mr. Vickramabahu, as he prefers to be referred to, …
by Balan Moses ENVOYS are almost never sacked by home governments except in the event of a change of regime in the home country or if they are guilty of an exceptionally nasty faux pas in their host country. Both do not seem to apply to outgoing Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia Kalyananda Godage, …
By Dr. Deepika Udagama There are many views about what we must achieve in post-war Sri Lanka. There appears to be a general acceptance that reconciliation among the various ethnic groups in the country is of topmost priority. Some think that for reconciliation to be realized we must primarily focus on economic development; others think …
By Charitha Ratwatte The dictionary definition of a ‘pun’: ‘the clever or humorous use of a word that has more than one meaning, or words that have different meanings but sound the same’. The second word of the headline of today’s column is not exactly a pun, but somewhat akin to one, as it is …
Continue reading ‘18th Amendment to Constitution and Rise of ‘Posterior Liqueurs’’ »
by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana | Cardiologist I really have enjoyed the bliss of retired life, being able to watch the London ‘Olympics’, savouring the great moments in real time without the hindrance of work! Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka hits a return during his men’s Singles Group Badminton victory match on Day 3 of the …
Continue reading ‘Olympics 2012 Through Eyes of a Lankan in London’ »
By R.K.Radhakrishnan After huge delays, the US $ 270 million Indian housing project for displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka is now on track. Mohiniyattam performance by members of the Nalanda Troupe — at India House, on the occasion of the Indian Independence Day, Aug 15, Colombo-pic: India High Commission “The pilot phase of the project …
Urgent government legislation reinstating offshore processing centres for asylum seekers has cleared parliament’s lower house. Only two MPs – independent Andrew Wilkie and Adam Bandt from the Australian Greens – voted against the bill.
By Jagath Gunawardana The commonest and most widespread of the kingfishers found in Sri Lanka is the White –breasted Kingfisher, which can be seen in many home gardens, away from a body of water. The White-breasted Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis fusca) or the White-throated Kingfisher is the well-known Pilihuduwa in Sinhala although some have given it …
Continue reading ‘White-breasted Kingfisher: more at home on dry land’ »
By Alaina Varvaloucas Every bus traveling north has to stop at the military checkpoint just after Vavuniya. Only men disembark. They know the drill. Without being asked, they form two orderly columns, present their IDs, spread their legs for a pat-down, and open their bags for soldiers to rifle through. Some field questions about why …
Continue reading ‘Military Still Occupies Tamil Areas With a Heavy Hand’ »
By Moshe Dann In the wake of an Israeli government- initiated report presenting Israel’s legal rights in Judea and Samaria, opponents of settlements argue that the issue is not about Israel’s legal and historic rights, but about “morality.” I assume that means supporting “Palestinian self-determination,” “ending the occupation” and establishing a second Arab Palestinian state …
Continue reading ‘The Moral Question of Palestinian Statehood’ »
by P.K.Balachandran (August 15th is the 65th anniversary of India’s Independence) When the Japanese occupied Malaya and Singapore in 1942, a large number of Indians joined the Indian Independence League (IIL) and the Indian National Army (INA) headed by Subhas Chandra Bose, the Indian freedom fighter who was striving to free India from the British, …
By James M. Dorsey As the civil war in Syria continues to spread Turkey is faced with a new dimension to its long-standing Kurdish problem. For decades, modern Turkey has been battling a bloody insurgency in southeastern Turkey, led by the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) that has left some 40,000 people dead on both sides. …
Continue reading ‘Time has Come for Emergence of Autonomous Kurdish region in Syria’ »
By Nipuni Panamaldeniya Growing up in Sri Lanka, if someone had told me that I would move to Canada when I was 16, I certainly would have thought that they had surrendered to insanity. But when the opportunity arose for us to immigrate, we took it, knowing that sooner or later, my brother and I …
By Kath Noble While Tamil Nadu is fixated with the politics of India’s relationship with Sri Lanka, as was amply demonstrated by the hullabaloo over the conference of the Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Organisation in Chennai on August 12th, the rest of the country has been focusing on rather different issues.
by Kerry Brewster You Tube Video & Transcript of ABC “Lateline” Presentation STEVE CANNANE, PRESENTER: Three Sri Lankan men who’ve been declared genuine refugees are fighting secret ASIO rulings that mean they can’t be released from immigration detention despite their refugee status.
by K. S. Sivakumaran We all know history is subject to revision when new research shows new evidences. It is also an exercise in interpretation and it depends on who does it for whom. In Lanka, history is interpreted in different ways. While being skeptical on what I am going to record below, I feel …
Continue reading ‘Tamils have lived in this country for more than 3000 Years’ »
by Dr.Muttukrishna Sarvanantha Before the meeting with the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on May 18, 2012, Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris made some remarks which included the following. “The most striking developments have really been in the northern province of Sri Lanka where the economy is growing by as much as 22 percent in …
Continue reading ‘Prof.GL Peiris is Economic with Truth About Economic Growth In The North’ »
by Naunihal Singh The media has treated the shootings in Oak Creek very differently from those that happened just two weeks earlier in Aurora. Only one network sent an anchor to report live from Oak Creek, and none of the networks gave the murders in Wisconsin the kind of extensive coverage that the Colorado shootings …
Continue reading ‘Oak Creek Massacre Is Treated as a Sikh Tragedy Rather Than an American Tragedy’ »
by Dharisha Bastians “…we cannot glorify death whether in the battlefield or otherwise, we must celebrate life, and we are fiercely committed to protecting and securing the sanctity of life which is the most fundamental value without which all other rights and freedoms become meaningless…” – Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam – Parliament of Sri Lanka 15 …
Continue reading ‘Defacement of Tiruchelvam Peace Mural Must be Viewed with Great Seriousness’ »
by R.K.Radhakrishnan When he steps out of an aircraft in Palaly on August 16, Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna will belong to a rare tribe of people who kept their word to the people of Jaffna. When he came on an exploratory visit to Jaffna last October, Mr. Krishna, the first musician of note from India …
The Nawa Sama Samaja Party (NSSP) Leader Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne was literally told to shut up by the TESO on Sunday, when he was prevented from continuing with his speech at the inaugural session of the contentious conference. The embarrassing incident happened when he accused India of being partly responsible for the grievances of the …
by Dr. S. P. Udayakumar The United Progressive Alliance (UPA )government considers Indian life worthless and dispensable by freeing Russia from liability commitment for Koodankulam reactors 1 & 2. The UPA government signs secret agreements with foreign governments and does not disclose the content to its own citizens and law makers. The UPA government and …
Continue reading ‘PMANE Call to Observe Indian Independence Day as Black Day On August 15th’ »
by Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha I have noted previously that the failure of government to make its position clear on a number of issues has been one of the main difficulties about Reconciliation. I say this because, by and large, the government position on most issues has been extremely positive, and inadequacies are more due to inefficiency …
Continue reading ‘One of Main Difficulties in Reconciliation is Lack of Transparency by Govt’ »
by Stewart Bell A Sri Lankan migrant has been accepted as a refugee on the grounds that, as a passenger on a smuggling ship that Canada has publicly linked to Tamil rebels, he might be tortured or killed in his homeland. The MV Ocean Lady in a 2009 file photo-by Debra Brash/Times Colonist The 24-year-old …
by R.A.Ratwatte After the Navy SC vs Kandy SC rugby match on August 12th, there is one unmistakable message that must be passed on to all those who turn sport into hooliganism……you are not welcome on our playing fields any more ! ‘Kandy SC Vs Navy SC’- via facebook.com/SriLankaRugby If you are unable to handle …
by Chathura Pinnawala After the disgusting events that occurred after the final whistle of the Kandy SC versus Navy SC’s pivotal second round encounter of the Inter-Club Division A league rugby match at Nittawela on Sunday, Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) is seeking a way to resolve the issue within their board room. President …
Continue reading ‘SLRFU wants to Resolve Issues A Kandy vs Navy Rugby Match Marred by Violence’ »
by Nirgunan Tiruchelvam In little over a month, Sri Lanka will host the World Twenty20. It has been 30 years since the island’s inaugural Test. Neither Twenty20 cricket nor Sri Lanka as a host of a world event seemed in prospect in 1982. Most of the current players were not born then. They should heed …
Continue reading ‘Ajit de Silva: Master of Drift Whose Deliveries used to Hiss in Flight’ »
By Ilica Malkanthi Karunaratne This is an interview with a Sri Lankan consultant who served this country first, then received international recognition in Singapore and the Middle East. Dayanthe is publicity shy, but I got him talking with just a simple question. Hardly anyone remembers all the technical first’s you introduced to the infrastructure of …
By Sara De Silva The West is confronted with a new enemy. The face of this enemy is that of a familiar one, and is no alien to the Western soil unlike Islamic extremism that was imported from across the continent. The new enemy is an indigenous phenomenon which has been lurking under the surface …
Continue reading ‘The Alarming Increase of Far Right Extremist Violence in Western Countries’ »
by Dr. Mathu H. Liyanage Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, with five world and four Olympic gold medals came like a lightning thunderbolt from the grey skies in the UK to show that he is still the fastest man on the planet and the showman of the London Olympics 2012.
Two of the most outspoken critics of broadening economic ties with India via a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), who have lent their voices to bashing Sri Lankan economists and public officials responsible for finalising the agreement, citing India’s trade policies have now had a change of heart. According to the Ministry of Industry and …
by N. Sathiya Moorthy With the polity busy with alliance-formation, candidate selection and campaigning for the three Provincial Council polls, no one is talking about the post-war peace talks aimed at a political solution to the vexatious ethnic issue. Neither is the Government talking about the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), nor is the TNA reminding …
By Salma Yusuf The residue of the three decade conflict is manifest in the fractured communities where suspicion, distrust, fear and accusation are rife. Following the conclusion of the war, the need has arisen for regaining trust and confidence whilst renegotiating values of coexistence between and within communities. It is in this context that the …
Continue reading ‘Peoples Council in Wattegedara: Reconciliation Model of, for and by the People’ »
By A Special Correspondent Systematic Sinhalisation taking place in areas inhabited by Tamils, says the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi on Sunday stressed the need for a long-term and medium-term political solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka.
By B.Kolappan Seeking to rebut criticism that he had dropped the demand for a separate ‘Tamil Eelam’, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi on Sunday said he would seek to realise his life dream with the help of like-minded people in the future, and the conference he presided over here was only akin to administration …
Continue reading ‘Karunanidhi Reiterates Commitment to Realisation of his ‘life dream’ of Eelam’ »
By A Special Correspondent The people of Tamil Nadu have a duty to help Tamils in Sri Lanka like a mother caring for her children or a brother extending a helping hand to his siblings, DMK president and chairman of Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Organisation (TESO) M. Karunanidhi said on Sunday.
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The returning hero risks carrying the seed of violence into the very heart of his city”. René Girard (Violence and the Sacred) Heroes are like double-edged swords. Sane nations use them, with caution, and send them into honourable retirement once their deeds are done. The nation, which is seduced by the hero …
Continue reading ‘Megalomania of Rajapaksas is Driving Country Down the Low Road Towards an Abyss’ »
by Frederica Jansz It has been a few weeks now since we highlighted the blatant disregard and violation of procedures at Sri Lankan Airlines by the Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickremasinghe. He was responsible for awarding the contract for the supply of Wine and Champagnes which is valued at approximately US$ 750,000 annually …
In the strongest reaction yet to India’s contentious support to a US sponsored resolution at the UNHRC against Sri Lanka earlier this year, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has broken his silence by calling upon the Indian government to have a relook at its dealings with its neighbors. I n a freewheeling interaction with Times of India …
by Kishali Pinto Jayewardene Public debate is rife with heated opinions in regard to the virtual breakdown of the law and order process in Sri Lanka. The government continues to deny that there is a steep rise in crime and quite absurdly blames the media for reporting on crime. The root causes for this deterioration …
by Our Diplomatic Editor India has lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka over the allocation of a prime Colombo property to a Chinese company though it was earmarked for India.The protests were delivered both in New Delhi and Colombo, an External Affairs Ministry source said yesterday. He was speaking on grounds of anonymity since …
(Text of letter sent to External Affairs minister Prof. GL Peiris by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia) “Dear Minister, “I cannot quite believe it that you of all people had me ‘Recalled’. Trust you would recall what I wrote about you when you took over from Rohitha Bogollagama, yes I was delighted because I …
Continue reading ‘Lankan Envoy Godage recalled from Malaysia appeals to Minister Peiris’ »
by Gamini Weerakoon The Editors’ Guild and some other powerful associations of journalists have got hot under the collar over the statement of the new Secretary to the Media Ministry Charitha Herath that the government wouldn’t be introducing the Right to Information Act in the interests of national security and other sensitive matters. The ire …
by Nirmala Kannangara Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda has been accused of unlawful occupation at Sridhar Cinema at 45, Stanley Road, Jaffna since 1996 which belongs to R. Mahendraraviraj. Sridhar Cinema, which was one of the leading cinema halls in Jaffna had to shut down in 1991 during the height of …
by Brigadier (Retd) Sri Mudannayake It is hard to imagine that 20 years have passed since General Denzil Kobbekaduwa, along with some of his senior commanders, fell victim to a buried explosive device in the Jaffna Peninsula. That fateful day was August 8, 1992. The incident shook the nation to its core and plummeted military …
The city police have denied permission for the pro-Eelam TESO meet, convened by the forum’s founder leader and DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Sunday. The police have denied permission on various grounds but they cannot be divulged as the matter was sub-judice, Chennai Police Commissioner J K Tripathy told PTI on Saturday. Sources …
Rajiva Wijesinha Interviewed by Ranga Jayasuriya Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP and presidential advisor on Reconciliation blames the Ministry of External Affairs for the lack of professionalism within the ministry and says it has not even bothered to find out who the members of the visiting delegation from the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner …
by Tisaranee Gunasekara “….the purpose is not really to indict the past, but to summon it to the attention of a suicidal, anachronistic present”. Wole Soyinka (Nobel Speech – 1986) Independent Ceylon was just a few months old when she won her first ever silver medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. For the …
by M.A.Sumanthiran M.P. (text of Speech made in Parliament by M.A. Sumanthiran on 10th August 2012) Thank you sir I am glad to speak on this motion moved by the Hon. Member for Colombo and I am further glad to speak at the time when you are in the Chair, and quite unusually, after a …
By Namini Wijedasa Striking academics emerged from a late-night meeting with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa saying some progress was made—but not enough to call off their five-weeks-old trade union action. The government had agreed on principle to several of the demands raised by the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA). This includes the formation …
Continue reading ‘Talks Continue But FUTA Encouraged By Basil Rajapaksa’s Positive Approach’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Ketheeswaran Loganathan called generally as “Ketheesh” was assassinated Six years ago on August 12th exactly one year after Lakshman Kadirgamar was killed. With his departure one more Tamil who wanted his people to live with equal rights in a united Lanka and championed that cause in the face of danger was done …
Continue reading ‘Life and Times of Ketheeswaran ‘Ketheesh’ Loganathan’ »
INDIAN CONCERNS OVER ESSENTIALS OF POST-CONFLICT RECONCILIATION IN SRI LANKA by Dr.Subramanian Swamy (text of speech delivered by Dr.Swamy at Defence seminar 2012 in Colombo) Introduction The world witnessed a historic event in May 2009, when in a final assault of the Sri Lankan armed forces, a treacherous and murderous terrorist outfit called the Liberation …
Continue reading ‘Essentials of Post-Conflict Reconciliation & India’s Concerns’ »
UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya yesterday exposed various ills of the Government, its ulterior motives in going for Provincial Council elections as well the failure to restore law and order in the country. “The attempt of the Government has come to light, to win the forthcoming Provincial Council Election by whatever means and to show that …
Continue reading ‘“Let us Bring Victory to our Party and to our Nation”-Karu Jayasuriya’ »
BY OUR CHENNAI CORRESPONDENT The residents in the affluent Sarvodaya Enclave in New Delhi have on 8 August filed a petition at the New Delhi High Court, asking for the removal of former Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s North-Eastern Provincial Council, Annamalai Varatharajaperumal and his 25 men-strong security contingent from the enclave, as they have …
By S.Vijay Kumar An impartial investigation led by the United Nations is the only way to render justice to those affected by war crimes in Sri Lanka, Amnesty International Chief Executive in India G. Ananthapadmanabhan has said. The island nation will soon be in the international eye thanks to the impending Commonwealth Heads of Governments …
Continue reading ‘Amnesty International wants U.N.led probe into Sri Lanka war crimes’ »
By B.Kolappan A conference of the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO), scheduled here for Sunday, has run into rough weather, with the Centre asking the organisers to drop the word ‘Eelam’ from the title of the meeting.
By A Special Correspondent The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Chennai Police Commissioner to consider an application seeking permission for conducting the Eelam Tamils Livelihood Rights Conference, organised by the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO), at YMCA, Royapettah, on August 12, and pass appropriate speaking orders.
By R.K.Radhakrishnan The Hindu Janata party president Subramanian Swamy speaking at the valedictory of the defence seminar ‘Towards lasting peace and stability,’ in Colombo on Friday. Photo: R.K. Radhakrishnan It will be much easier to fight Sri Lanka’s enemies abroad, if there is some devolution of powers to the Tamils areas in the near future, …
Continue reading ‘Subramanian Swamy wants Police Powers for Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka’ »
By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, Michigan State University Sumangala Kailasapathy, reports Ann Arbor News, will be one of three new faces soon on the Ann Arbor City Council. A Certified Public Accountant, Kailasapathy ran for the Democratic Party’s nomination against the Democratic Mayor’s big projects (like a proposed railway station and a countywide expansion of …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan American Sumi Kailasapathy Wins Big in Ann Arbor’ »
By Rauff Hakeem (Text of statement issued by Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader and Minister of Justice, Rauff Hakeem) A statement I made recently in Sainthamaruthu, Kalmunai, has created a very grave concern among Buddhists leaders and Buddhist prelates including the Jathika Hela Urumaya.
by Secretariat for Muslims The Secretariat for Muslims is deeply concerned by the recent problems in Mannar including acts of violence, allegations of intimidation, and the manner in which the underlying issues are being addressed. The Secretariat for Muslims (SFM) affirms the need to respect the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of our …
By Gagani Weerakoon Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament that allowing UPFA MP to make a statement on the Mannar incident soon after the day’s businesses of the House, was in violation of the provisions of the Parliamentary Standing Orders. He said UPFA MP Hunais Farook was allowed to make a statement to the House …
By Amal S. Kumarage One can only thank Mr. C.A.Chandraprema for choosing an apt title ‘University Dons in Cuckoo land’ for his article published in the Sunday Divaina and Sunday Island of 4th August. There is no disagreement that is exactly where university dons have been for the last several years. The difference now is …
Continue reading ‘Demands of University Dons: Who’s gone Cuckoo?’ »
By C.R.Chandraprema University academic staff have now been on strike for one month. This is now the longest strike engaged in by university teachers in this country. Minister Basil Rajapaksa has been called upon to settle the matter. Last Wednesday, a meeting was held between representatives of the Federation of University Teacher’s Associations (FUTA) and …
By Ayesha Zuhair ‘Secure the Sanctity of Life’ is a message for all times – not just in times of war. That was the message inscribed in Sinhala, Tamil and English on a brightly coloured street mural at the Kynsey Road / Rosmead Place intersection in Borella. For both pedestrians and motorists alike, it was …
Continue reading ‘Why was Street Mural Commemorating Neelan Tiruchelvam defaced with tar?’ »
by Indi Samarajiva I’m a Buddhist and have the utmost respect for the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, that being the community of practice. There are, however, claimed and robed Buddhists who are a shame to us all, to all Sri Lankans. For example, in Panamai, a mob led by a Buddhist monk has …
by Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Text of Keynote address by Defence and Urban development secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa at opening ceremony of Defence Seminar – 2012′, at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo on August 8th 2012) It gives me great pleasure to address the Opening Ceremony of the Defence Seminar 2012. This is the second successive year in which …
Rosy Senanayake Interviewed by Dianne Silva Q:There have been a number of reports of child abuse in recent months, do you think that the responsibility of curtailing these incidents lies in the hands of the police and that they are doing enough to control the situation?
by Ajith Siriwardana Senior UNPer Karu Jayasuriya said today the government had developed a helicopter mania and were blatantly abusing state resources for their election campaign as never before. “They are using helicopters unnecessarily even to travel a short distance, such as attending a school sports meet,” he told a news conference in Colombo this …
Continue reading ‘Government has Developed a Mania for Helicopters says Karu Jayasuriya’ »
By Ananda Weerasuriya Mount Lavinia District Judge Priyantha Fernando issued an enjoining order yesterday, preventing the United National Party (UNP) Working Committee (WC) from extending the term of the party leadership to six years. The judge also issued notice on UNP leader Ranil Wickremesighe and 85 members of the WC to appear in Court on …
Premakumar Gunaratnam Interviewed by Peter Boyle Premakumar Gunaratnam, an ethnic Tamil from Sri Lanka, who now has Australian citizenship, returned to his home country in September 2011 to help organise the launch of a new left party, the Frontline Socialist Party (FLSP), a major breakaway from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, People’s Liberation Front). He …
By Richard Obedi (An Ugandan perspective on the problems faced by Bosnia and Herzegovina, calling for the country’s citizens to build a new relationship amongst themselves; based upon a real understanding of each other’s respective needs, fears and aspirations) Post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – split along ethno-national lines into three constituent people – denies …
By Ayesha Zuhair Christine Robichon, Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, while commending the “huge progress” accomplished on the economic front, opines that economic development alone is not sufficient to achieve a just and lasting peace. Foreign friends, she further asserts, cannot help much in …
Report issued as statement by the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Diocese of Jaffna, Sri Lanka The widely advertised ‘war for peace’ came to an end more than three years ago. Yet the fruits of this peace are yet to be enjoyed by the people in the North, who were most affected mentally, …
by Kath Noble The 65 million Tamils across the Palk Strait have played a huge role in the Sri Lankan conflict. They make Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese majority a minority both globally and in the immediate region, and they have become extremely hostile to the government, which many of them regard as Sinhalese rather than Sri …
Continue reading ‘Tamil Nadu must be made a Friend of Sri Lanka and not a Deadly Foe’ »
by Charles Haviland North-eastern Sri Lanka has been off-limits to journalists and most other outsiders since the civil war ended in 2009, but the authorities have now granted BBC correspondent Charles Haviland access to much of the area. I was with the army as they detonated left-over munitions near a major battle scene.
by Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. Now that the LLRC Action Plan is out, it has drawn the usual reactions. Those who find good things in it claim that these have been forced on government. Others claim that it does not go far enough. Kusal Perera does both. Interestingly we do not yet find criticism that it …
By P K Balachandran Chandran Rutnam, a veteran Sri Lankan Tamil movie director, and B S Radha Krishnan, a Chennai-based producer, have collaborated to make a Hollywood film starring Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross which is to be released in Los Angeles next month. Speaking to Express here on Monday, Rutnam said that the film …
by A.V. Ragunathan Tamil refugees who opt to go to Sri Lanka face a tricky situation. If they find unfavourable conditions on the island nation and want to return, they will have to forfeit their refugee status. As such on their re-entry, they will not be allowed to live with their families in refugee camps. …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Tamil refugees opting to Return from India face chilling Dilemma’ »
by R.K.Radhakrishnan For the second time in three matches, some Sri Lankan spectators went after Indian fans waving flags, mouthed obscenities and generally gave Indian supporters a hard time during the T20 match. A few Indian spectators said that some Sri Lankan supporters were throwing beer cans, water bottles, and glasses at them. Some of …
Continue reading ‘Unruly Sri Lankan Spectators Continue targeting Indian Fans’ »
by Jayantha Dhanapala (Text of address at an event to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission in Sri Lanka) My subject has been given to me by the Fulbright Commission but I tweaked it by adding the bit about ‘Realpolitik’ because I do feel, as Chris Teal, the Chairman of the …
by Thulasi Muttulingam and Surani Perera What is the Problem? There are several markers that Sri Lanka is still very far from being a developed country. One of the most obvious..? Most developed countries not only retain their youth but also actively solicit them from other countries to sustain their burgeoning economies. In Sri Lanka …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s youth exodus: Why is this Happening ?’ »
by Meena Kandasamy Marriage took me to Mangalore. Living in Attavar, I saw the city as a sister/lover: a feisty woman caught in the grip of a violent, disapproving man, she’d be rid of him if she found her strength. So, when I first heard of the recent assault by Hindutva vigilantes at a resort …
By C. Raja Mohan The contrast between the international images of the US president, Barack Obama, and his presumptive Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, has become starker in the last few days. When presidential candidate Barack Obama travelled to Europe in 2008, he wowed the world with his sweeping rhetoric and uplifting ideas. Four years later, …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj In a peculiarly aggressive display of “Saffron Terrorism” a mob led by a Buddhist Priest has deployed force and taken away a statue of the Elephant faced deity known as Pillaiyar in Tamil and Gana Deiyo in Sinhala from a Hindu temple in Panamai on the Eastern coastal district of Amparai. In a …
by M.A.Sumanthiran Last week I wrote on the topic of self-determination. This drew many comments. One of which was to the effect that Tamil political leaders seem to believe that these issues can be settled by presenting a good legal brief, but they are eventually settled by practical power politics and the military. That point …
Continue reading ‘Can Anyone Honestly say that Federalism will lead to Secession?’ »
by Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Text of speech delivered by Secretary of Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was the Chief Guest at the Passing out Parade of a batch Officers and Airmen of the Sri Lanka Air Force on 3rd August at the SLAF Academy in China Bay) It gives me great pride to …
Continue reading ‘Responsibilities Vested With Armed Services May Go Beyond What Is Customary’ »