by N Sathiya Moorthy In a masterly stroke aimed at improving bilateral economic relations on the one hand, and job opportunities for the Tamil victims of the ethnic war, New Delhi and Colombo have agreed to set up Special Economic Zones (SEZ) for Indian engineering, auto components and pharmaceutical industries in the eastern port town …
by Amardeep Singh One of the issues that has come up periodically in the Sikh community in the U.S. since 9/11 has been how to handle the common problem that men in turbans are presumed by many Americans to be Muslims. A man named Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot down in Arizona just a few …
by Rafiga Gurbanzade Lobbying is generally defined as the process of seeking to influence a government and its institutions to execute policies that serve interests of a group of individuals. The Woodstock Theological Center defines lobbying as a “deliberate attempt to influence political decision through various forms of advocacy directed at policymakers on behalf of …
Continue reading ‘How Ethnic Lobbying Impacts On US Foreign Policy’ »
by John Scales Avery At the end of the Second World War, when the full extent of the atrocities that had been committed by the Nazi’s became known, it was decided to prosecute Nazi leaders for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity (such as extermination camps). There was disagreement about how such …
by Robert Fisk Has there ever been a Middle Eastern war of such hypocrisy? A war of such cowardice and such mean morality, of such false rhetoric and such public humiliation? I’m not talking about the physical victims of the Syrian tragedy. I’m referring to the utter lies and mendacity of our masters and our …
By Shirani Seneviratne (This is a response to the article written by William Mcgowan in “Foreign Affairs” that was posted on dbsjeyaraj.com under the heading”militant Buddhists are behaving badly in Sri Lanka) It’s deeply disturbing that a magazine such as Foreign Affairs would stoop to publish such an article as this. It is more of …
Continue reading ‘Militant Buddhism is a Recent Phenomenon and was not Behind the Civil war’ »
by Hemantha Warnakulasuriya I was informed by an agent, allegedly working for ‘Digos’, the Secret Police of Italy, that certain video clips were being prepared by the LTTE to bolster its claim that the Sri Lankan soldiers committed war crimes. This was to be used internationally by the LTTE as proof of atrocities committed by …
Continue reading ‘How Adrian Anthony Gill Critiqued Channel 4 Documentary on Sri Lanka’ »
By S. Talpahewa It appears that Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is now afflicted with the chronic disease of Off-specification Fiascos. During the short period of the last three years four major “off-specifications fiascos” had occurred at the CPC. They are –
Sarath Nanda Silva Interviewed by Dianne Silva Question:In light of the upcoming provincial council elections; what is your opinion on the provincial council system and the devolution of power, is it effective in a country as small as Sri Lanka? Should the PC’s be given more power?
by Charitha Ratwatte Sri Lanka’s dependence on imported milk is a phenomenon that evolved during the time frame of my lifetime. I well remember as a child, a man used to bring a cow and its small calf to our house – we lived in a Government quarters bungalow in Colombo – and milk the …
Continue reading ‘Dairy Cattle in Sri Lanka Declining due to Rise in Beef Eating Consumption’ »
By N. Sathiya Moorthy The timely announcement on the setting up of official mechanisms for the implementation of the Report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) should be welcome for more reasons than one. On the face of it, the Roadmap on the LLRC Report implementation seeks to address the concerns, real and …
By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha M.P Having now gone through the LLRC Action Plan, I can understand how sensible it was of the Cabinet to appoint, not politicians, but the Secretary to the President to work on it. And he in turn was inspired to appoint extremely competent public servants who would not be looking over …
Continue reading ‘The need to setup a Land Commission as envisaged by the Thirteenth Amendment’ »
by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan You have been called the ‘Controversial Bishop’ and recently Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen claimed that you were the ‘cause’ for the clash in Mannar where Muslims attacked the magistrate and the Tamil fishermen in Uppukkulam? What is your explanation? UK’s High Commissioner John Rankin in discussion with Mannar …
Continue reading ‘An Interview with ‘Controversial’ Mannar Catholic Bishop Rayappu Joseph’ »
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Have you learned nothing from history?” – Sigmund Freud (The Failure of an Illusion) The exodus began a few years after the independence. The first to leave were the Burghers. Realising that the equation of Sinhala with national (desheeya) in the politico-cultural sphere rendered precarious their place in independent Ceylon, most of …
by Kishali Pinto Jayawardene One cannot fail to be amazed at the considerable ingenuity if not wild imagination with which the government’s National Plan of Action to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission has been drafted. Some responses invoke chuckles of glee whilst other promises invoke far more heated reactions given …
by S. Venkat Narayan NEW DELHI, August 4: In July 1989, then Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa had threatened to go to war with India if it did not withdraw the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) by the end of that month. He issued the threat when BG Deshmukh, then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Special …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “This accursed, shortsighted statecraft!” – Heinrich von Kleist (Prinz Friedrich) The Eastern province, multi-ethnic and multi-religious, is Sri Lanka’s Achilles Heel. Mishandle the East and the outcome will not be a cleanly bifurcated separatist war. Mishandle the East and the outcome will be a ‘war of all against all’, involving every ethnic/religious …
By Nirmala Kannangara Despite Presidential Security Division (PSD) and Police Media Spokesperson’s claim that Ann Kingston (nee Mariyadas) was not knocked down by a motor bicycle out rider attached to the President’s motorcade the victim’s family claim otherwise. Forty eight years old Kingston was knocked down by a speeding motor bicycle alleged to be one …
by Gamini Weerakoon Watching pre-Olympic Games programmes on TV made us realise how much the Olympic Games even in this hi-tech age is dependent on torch bearers. For weeks the Olympic torch was carried from town to town in Britain and finally from borough to borough in London. It made us realise that carrying torches …
Continue reading ‘OLYMPICS 2020 AT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA MAGAMPURA OLYMPIC VILLAGE IN HAMBANTOTA’ »
By Kumar Rupesinghe The announcement of the LLRC implementation plan by the Lalith Weeratunge Committee, appointed by the President, must be commended for the hard work that they did to ensure that the entirety of the recommendations have been taken note of, a time plan for the implementation agreed on. Australian Ambassador Kathy Klugman meets …
by Juliet Coombe (Juliet Coombe writes about Sri Lanka’s magical spots and amazing people with special beliefs and mystical practices) First there is the question of belief and then belief itself. It was first the Eleatic Parmenides, who in an attempt to understand the phenomena of change by refuting interpretations of Heraclitean and Milesian thinkers, …
Continue reading ‘Genesis vs. Nemesis: Sri Lanka’s supernatural history’ »
By Jayampathy Wickramaratne Upon becoming a party to a treaty, a State undertakes binding obligations in international law. A State has to submit initial and periodic reports to the relevant treaty body on measures adopted. The country thus becomes open to international scrutiny. Sri Lanka is a dualist country and treaties do not automatically become …
By Namini Wijedasa An old man stood resolutely outside a house, facing a roaring, depraved mob. They had weapons. “You kill me,” the man said, in Sinhala, his language. “Then you can go in.” S.C. Chandrahasan remembers that old man. Where many have chosen to dwell on the savageness and brutality of the 1983 anti-Tamil …
by Celina Cramer Namini Wijedasa’s experience on her Terrorism Tour (“Throngs of people on ‘Terrorism Tour’ ”, Sunday Lakbima News, July 22, 2012/Soldiers guide pre-dominantly Sinhala visitors on “Terrorism Tour” of Mullaitheevu district’-.dbsjeyaraj.com) sparked off dormant memories of my short visit to Jaffna. David Hall, UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office Team Leader for South Asia …
Continue reading ‘You Suffered for Three Decades and Now I come….’ »
by Rauf Hakeem The Tamil political landscape with the exclusive Tamil Congress and the emerging alternative voice of the Federal party had great legal luminaries as GG Ponnambalam and SJV Chelvanayakam. The Late Sivasithamparam was a unique blend of all these greats filling the knowledge gaps and emerging as a personality in his own right. …
By Mike Andree The incandescent fury emanating from the Executive Committee of the Bar Association glowed around ‘Lady Justice’. The fire they breathed would have even burnt the blindfold of the goddess of justice. Such was the wrath of the members of the Bar when the facts on the Mannar incident kept surfacing. They condemned …
Continue reading ‘Appeasing The Lord and Master: The Turncoat Attitude of Black Coated Fraternity’ »
by Ridma Dissanayake The Sri Lanka Youth Parliament will be set up in Kilinochchi, National Youth Services Council (NYSC) chairman Lalith Piyum Perera said. “The Youth Parliament was to be established in Anuradhapura. However, considering the peaceful situation in the North, it was decided to set it up in Kilinochchi,” Perera said.
By Stanley Samarasinghe The Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) filed a petition in the Court of Appeal , seeking permission to intervene in the contempt proceedings against Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. Attorney-at-Law, Sanath Wijewardana filed the petition on behalf of the Executive Committee members, in terms of the Article 105(3) of …
by Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. 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 …
by K.S.Sivakumaran Knowledgeable literati would have heard of a Thamil epic poem called Silappadikaaram. It is one of the five major epics in that language. The other four are Manimekalai, Seevaka Chinthamani, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi. A Chera Prince named Ilango, who turned a sage professing Jainism, was also a great poet during the Post-Sangam Period …
Continue reading ‘Kannagi the Heroine of Silappathikaaram Epic is Pathini Deiyo’ »
by Selywn Duke It’s difficult to say if the greatest drama of the 2012 Olympics has occurred inside or outside the athletic arena, but it’s hard for anything to compare to the controversy that recently surrounded 16-year-old Chinese swim sensation Ye Shiwen. The story started on Saturday when Ye shattered the women’s world record in …
by Rick Rozoff Recent reports detail a Turkish military buildup on the Turkish-Syrian border with various accounts mentioning the deployment of troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers and missile batteries two kilometers from Syrian territory, with 25 tanks from the Mardin 70th Mechanized Brigade engaged in exercises along the border. The Turkish rationale for the military …
By S.Senthalir For the villagers around the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu who are agitating against its commissioning, it is as if they are facing a second Emergency, albeit a silent one. False cases have been slapped against them, their leaders have been charged with sedition and waging war against the government, prohibitory …
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 …
Continue reading ‘Militant Buddhists Behaving Badly in Sri Lanka’ »
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 …
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 …
Continue reading ‘How Can we Hand Over to Govt the Right to Impose Death as a Penalty for Crime?’ »
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Continue reading ‘S.A. David: Gandhiyan Architect of Sri Lankan Tamils’ »
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 …
Continue reading ‘Jaffna Mayoress Yogeswary Patkunarajah is a Woman of Action’ »
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 …
by Carmen Wickramagamage It is no exaggeration to say that one of the social groups that has most benefited from the revolutionary education reforms implemented starting 1947 [which most of us know as either Free Education or Kannangara Reforms] is Women. In 1946, when the overall literacy rate for the country was 57.8%, only 43.8% …
Continue reading ‘Women have benefited immensely through education reforms in post independence’ »
by Roel Raymond Vivimarie VanderPoorten is an award winning Sri Lankan poet. Her first book Nothing Prepares You won the Gratiaen Prize for the best piece of English literary work in Sri Lanka, in 2007. In 2009 she was recipient of a higher honour; the SAARC Poetry Award, which was followed by the publication of …
Continue reading ‘‘Dont let Privatization of Education Destroy the Free Education System’’ »
By C. V. Vivekananthan | Attorney-at-law In the year 1983, Vivienne Goonewardene filed a Fundamental Rights Application against Hector Perera and Others. Cows in Nilaveli, with Pigeon Island in the background-pic by: Drs. Sarajevo The Supreme Court held that the State was liable for the transgression of fundamental rights the police committed when he was …
by Thulasi Muttulingam Hindu devotees will be thronging the thoroughfares of Colombo in colourful processions over the next few days. Chariot processions, coconuts being smashed, people decked in their brightest colours worshipping with camphor and flame, youngsters dancing the Kavadi dance and many other features of the Tamil Hindu community will be displayed on the …
Continue reading ‘Aadi Vel Festival in Colombo a Colourful Spectacle’ »
By Vishnuguptha “All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.”—Edmund Burke The power struggle within the United National Party (UNP) between Ranil Wickremesinghe and the reformists, led by Karu Jayasuriya and Sajith Premadasa, seems to be heading to a disastrous finale with the …
by Kath Noble It’s hard to know when to take official statements seriously. The government isn’t known for taking the quiet, cautious approach. Indeed, its spokesmen very often make obviously false claims, such as that Mervyn hasn’t done anything wrong or that no civilians were killed during the war. They seem to think the public …
Continue reading ‘Will costly projects in Hambantota District be worth the investment?’ »
by T.V. Rajeswar The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that it is acceding to a request from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the revival of matches between India and Pakistan in December this year. The BCCI decided to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan by inviting the Pakistan cricket team …
By Udaya Gammanpila “How do you analyze Sri Lanka’s growing relationship with China disturbing neighbouring India?” I was posed with the above question or a question similar to that by Mano Tittawella. I was a panelist at a discussion of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Tittawella was …
by Priya Thangarajah Last Friday, a few of us were prohibited from entering Silk: a club in Colombo. The reason: “people like you are not allowed” i.e queer women. I remember awhile back when another friend was banned from another club for looking ‘butch’ Should I be happy that the ‘pink’ Rupee has made no …
Continue reading ‘Dancing Around In Smaller Circles: A Queer Feminist Rant’ »
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui In his book – Worse Than War – Daniel Jonah Goldhagen says that during mass murders, the murderers themselves, their supporters and those who wish to stand idly by practice linguistic camouflage. Bangladesh, Arakanese refugee camps, July 23, 2012. Photography by Osman Sağırlı-IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, Turkey And this has been …
Continue reading ‘Myanmar regime uses five principal methods to eliminate the Rohingyas in Burma’ »
BY Amanda Hodge | Colombo THE first Tamil man to be deported from Australia since the end of the Sri Lankan war was returned a week after Sri Lanka’s navy chief complained to Australia’s high commissioner of double standards in the treatment of Sinhalese and Tamil asylum-seekers. The Australian has learned that a reported clash …
By N. Sathiya Moorthy No debate or discourse in contemporary Sri Lanka or on Sri Lanka will be complete without a reference to India. Depending on the issue, like the ‘national problem’, strategic security or economy, ‘factors’ such as Tamil Nadu, China or aid get a reference. The same can be said about India’s equations …
Continue reading ‘Tamil Moderates need political solution to stay relevant now and in the future’ »
Ex Army Chief put on firing line by Rohan Abeywardene War winning general turned outspoken critic of the government and Leader of the Democratic National Alliance Sarath Fonseka sat with us recently for a no-holds-barred interview. Although he, unlike some big talking politicians, did not rule out any queries, we could not pose a few …
By M.A.Sumanthiran M.P The phrase ‘self-determination’ raises many alarms in Sri Lanka today. The reason for that is the myth that somehow, if the right to self-determination is ceded to the Tamils of this country, it will automatically lead to secession. Although, various shades of this concept were expressed in different times before the twentieth …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s Tamils are entitled to the Right of Self-determination’ »
by K.S. Sivakumaran With an un-enthusiastic frame of mind thinking that the Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College situated in Bambalapitiya on Duplication Road near the Colombo Hindu College and Saraswathi Hall would be yet another Government School I went to meet the Principal, Kothai Nagularajah and her well-mannered and enthusiastic staff recently. Her staff of more …
Continue reading ‘Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College: One of the outstanding Schools in Colombo’ »
by Phil Lynch THERE is mounting evidence that Australia’s close co-operation with Sri Lanka on the prevention of people-smuggling and the interception of asylum-seeker boats is compromising our approach to human rights in that country. It is well documented that the Sri Lankan government was responsible for mass human rights violations towards the end of …
By Dr. Bibhu Prasad Routray As forty-five people lost their lives and 200,000 people were rendered homeless in the week-long communal violence between the Bodo tribals and the Muslim immigrants, the Assam government in northeast India ummed and ahhed. Men, women and children from 500 villages filled in the 128 temporary relief camps and in …
Continue reading ‘Recent Assam Violence rooted in factors of Demography and Politics’ »
by National Peace Council An action plan prepared by the government with regard to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was released last week. There are 91 recommendations that the action plan takes cognizance of. Each of these recommendations is looked at in terms of specific activities they entail. The action plan also identifies the …
By Salma Yusuf Post–war rehabilitation of ex-combatants is a relatively new discipline in the field of international transitional justice. What is even newer is the increasing recognition of the inextricable link between successful rehabilitation programmes and the achievement of genuine and sustainable national reconciliation. In fact, rehabilitation programmes are now regarded as a sine qua …
By Dilrukshi Handunnetti For 25 years, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have been reaching the shores of Tamil Nadu, the Indian state closest to Sri Lanka, for their safety. It is in these camps and in small settlements in rural Tamil Nadu that they found safety and shelter for years. It is also in these camps …
by Azra Ameen Hundreds took part in protests all over the island after Friday prayers calling on the government for speedy resettlement of the internally displaced Muslims and to take action against conspirators obstructing the resettlement of the Muslims of the North. Subsequently, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama and several other Muslim organizations presented a …
Continue reading ‘Conflicting versions about the courts conflict incident in Mannar’ »
by Lynn Ockersz ‘Collective solution should be arrived at through a process of consultation’: President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday that the solution to the issues faced by our communities resides in Parliament, where all relevant parties must parley together and arrive at a consensual remedy, since the problem is of a national nature. “This is …
By Hemantha Warnakulasuriya (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) On beingtelephoned by Minister Rishad Bathiudeen , the Mannar Magistrate immediately contacted the Judicial Service Commission and gave in writing a complaint. In the mean time, Minister Rishad Bathiudeen personally called on the Secretary of JSC and wanted the Magistrate transferred. He was told that the judges could …
Continue reading ‘How a cabinet Minister threatened a Magistrate cum Additional District Judge -2’ »
By Col. R. Hariharan Extracts of my answers to questions raised by media on the India-Sri Lanka Agreement 1987 in the last two days are given below. The Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardane Accord completes 25 years on July 29, 1987. Many now feel it represents a total diplomatic failure of India. As one who was present in …
Continue reading ‘25 years of India-Sri Lanka Agreement: Questions & Answers’ »
By Matias Spektor Brazilian attitudes toward national sovereignty and non-intervention are in a state of flux. Leaders in Brasília are seeking to actively take part in the current global rethink about the future of humanitarian intervention, and are increasingly willing to deploy men in uniform to distant lands when the lives of civilians are at …
by Richard Falk There has been serious confusion associated with the widespread embrace of ‘soft power’ as a preferred form of diplomacy for the 21st century. Joseph Nye introduced and popularized the concept, and later it was adopted and applied in a myriad of settings that are often contradictory from the perspective of international law …
Yasaratne Gamage | In Mannar ‘The resettlement of IDPs in the North will be accomplished 100 percent by mid-August this year. All welfare camps in the North will be shut down, Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. Speaking after opening the Army reconstructed two storeyed orphanage ‘Blessed Virgin’s Children’s Home’ at Kaththankulam, …
by Ananth Krishnan CRI Tamil – with a network of listeners’ clubs in T.N. – in talks with Chennai’s FM stations for launch of a daily two-hour broadcast The state-run China Radio International’s Tamil radio station, the most popular of its more than 60 international channels, marked its 49th anniversary here on Sunday announcing plans …
Tamils have consistently made it clear that a unitary constitution and a provincial council system within the confines of a unitary constitution are incapable of fulfilling their political aspirations. In this regard it is notable that Tamil political parties with a Tamil Nationalist dispensation had chosen to boycott the two provincial council elections that took …
by Amanda Hodge | in Colombo THE Sri Lankan navy has called for Australia to send back large numbers of asylum-seekers as a real deterrent to people-smugglers, and warned that its efforts to help the Gillard government combat the problem were rapidly draining its scarce resources. Senior naval officials have also flagged the possibility of …
About 700 migrants have been arrested so far this year, and more than half of them in the last three weeks. The final segment of Al Jazeera’s three-part series on Australia’s immigration debate looks at attempts to stop so-called boat people from making the dangerous voyage. Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez reports: Al Jazeera interview re: …
by Amanda Hodge | On the SLNS Samudura UNDER a clammy half-moon, the Sri Lankan navy ship Samudura inches towards the intimidating beams of a 330m super-tanker until the two hulls collide with a gentle thud. The SLNS Samudura is less than one-fifth the size of the Euronav, but it was the navy that was …
by Uri Avnery “He talks Zionism,” used to be a very derogatory comment when I was young. It meant that some elderly functionary had come to waste our time with a boring speech consisting largely of empty phrases. That was before the foundation of the State of Israel. Since then, the term Zionism has been …
Continue reading ‘Staunchly Zionist Policy of The State of Israel leads to self-destruction’ »
By Namini Wijedasa The government made it clear last week that there will be no separate event on National Day to express solidarity and empathy will all victims of the war, as recommended by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. What would be observed instead was the present practice of continuing to “express solidarity as …
By Namini Wijedasa Sarath Palitha de Silva, the newly appointed attorney-general, said last week there was no political interference in the attorney general’s department and that all officers were able to work according to their conscience. Excerpts from the interview:
by Premasara Epasinghe (legendary Cricketer and cricket administrator Abu Fuard passed away on July 28th at the age of 75.This article written in 2010 is reproduced here in honour of his memory) He was a man for all seasons. His life is woven around cricket. In early 1950s, he was one of the best schoolboy …
Continue reading ‘Legendary Cricketer Abu Fuard whose life was woven around Cricket’ »
BY Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema Industries Minister Rishad Bathiudeen while denying the allegation leveled against him of trying to intimidate Mannar Magistrate Anthonypillai Judeson says that he has never met or spoken to him. “I respect courts and I’m a charted engineer and I know it would be wrong to try and intimidate a Magistrate. I …
The Ekamuthu Oray Makkal Unity Mission Camp, that looks to bridge the gap between the north and south builds strong bonds The organisers of the Ekamuthu Oray Makkal Unity Mission Camp have something to be surprised about every year. The camp held last month in Tharanikkulam was their fourth, but if they thought they knew …
Continue reading ‘Fourth Ekamuthu Oray Makkal Unity Mission Camp’ »
by Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Protesting Muslims who thronged Colombo’s streets demanding public attention in regard to the plight of their community in Mannar are as much a part of the democratic process as lawyers protesting against the attack on a court house in Mannar and the Judicial Service Association abstaining from sittings in protest against …
By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema President of the Mannar Bar Association, I. C. Feldano says that action needs to be taken regarding this matter of political interference in the judiciary or else it would be a bad precedent. He said the order made by the Mannar Magistrate Anthonypillai Judeson was fair since he has given time …
(Following is the English translation of the document sent by the Mannar GA to Industries Minister Rishad Bathiudeen highlighting the background to the Mannar incident that started in 2002) Issues relating to fishermen settled in Thottaveli and tying boats belonging to them at the pier.
By Lakshman Indranath Keerthisinghe A ruler’s duty in the internal administration of the country is three fold: raksha or protection of the state from external aggression, palana or maintenance of law and order within the state and yogakshshema or safeguarding the welfare of the people. -Kautilya-The Arthashastra This column dedicated to the notion of fulfilling …
Continue reading ‘The Deplorable Political Criminal Intimidation Of A Magistrate by a Minister’ »
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “It is society that is dying so the tyrants can live” Irène Némirovsky, (Suite Française) A magistrate is not a displaced Tamil, a Sinhala worker or a university student; a magistrate is not even a journalist or a Samurdhi official. A magistrate is a far more august personage; the representative of an …
by Tisaranee Gunasekara “There are circumstances in which silence is lying”. Miguel de Unamuno (quoted in Mourir à Madrid by Fredrick Rossif) Riots are times of mob-rule. And in times of mob-rule, words of sanity and deeds of decency must occur in secret. That the Black July could not be condemned publicly while the fires …
Continue reading ‘Modern Ceylon’s first ethno-religious riot targeted not Tamils but Muslims’ »
By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema A petition has been filed before the Colombo High Court against Deputy Resettlement Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman for allegedly taking over a prawn farm by force; set up by a company, Pearl Farms (Pvt) Ltd. Muralitharan is also a director of the company with a one third share and …
By Farha Iman Globalization or ‘Globalism’ is beneficial for the dominant and destructive for the submissive. It always streams from developed countries towards underdeveloped and developing countries in three ways: a) in the form of products and services b) as cultural dependency and domination c) and as deceptive thoughts to mould the thinking of the …
by Tissa Devendra I write this article, not as a scholar but as one who has spent his working life in government ‘service’ and hopes that his insights may be thought provoking. My firm conviction is that there never was, and never can there ever be, an independent public service in Sri Lanka. This panacea …
Continue reading ‘The Myth of a Independent Public Service’ »
By Ghali Hassan Every day Australian media outlets, led by the five major TV channels and the Murdoch press, propagate images of Australian soldiers as heroes treating injured Afghan children and doing construction work in Iraq. The notion that Australia is a “humanitarian” nation could not be farther from the truth. Behind this façade of …
By Amanda Hodge in Colombo with Additional Reporting by Joe Kelly EXHAUSTED and showing the strain of a horror week of deportation and interrogation, Dayan Anthony presented just the sobering warning he was intended to be as he fronted a Sri Lankan government media conference to warn of the repercussions of asylum-seeking. In sweat top …
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka of Sri Lanka has appealed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa that he intervene and resolve the fishing dispute in Konthaipiddy,Mannar between Tamils from Vidathaltheevu and Muslims from Puthukkulam. The full text of the letter signed by Muslim Council President NM Ameen is as follows –
By N Sathiya Moorthy The death of an Indian fisherman off the UAE coast in a firing incident involving the US naval vessel, ’USNS Raapahannock’, is only the most recent of such incidents. Earlier, the Italian tanker, ’Enrica Lexie’ with anti-piracy guards on board had fired at Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast, killing two.
by Dr.Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri 6% of GDP for Education: Who is telling the truth? Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is asking the government to prioritise education and to invest in education. Towards this end FUTA has shown a concrete figure of measurement: the allocation on education as a percentage of GDP.
By Shastri Ramachandran Tamil political parties are a strange lot. The plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka seems to stir them more than the plight of Tamils in Tamil Nadu or the rest of India. This July, they found enough pretexts to ‘show concern’ for their Tamil brethren in Sri Lanka.
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Twenty –five years have passed since the signing of the Indo – Lanka accord by former Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and ex –Sri Lankan president Junius Richard Jayewardena on July 29th 1987. It was hailed as a great breakthrough when it was signed. Indian Parliamentary delegation visiting Sri Lanka pays tribute …
Continue reading ‘Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of The Indo-Lanka Accord’ »
by Col. R. Hariharan The India-Sri Lanka Agreement 1987, also known as the Rajiv-Jayawardene Accord, completes 25 years on July 29. Signing of Indo-Lanka accord As a soldier who actively participated in India’s military intervention in both Sri Lanka (1987-90) and East Pakistan in 1971 (that created Bangladesh), I cannot help comparing the two exercises …
Continue reading ‘East Pakistan and North-East Sri Lanka: A tale of two interventions’ »
By Vishnuguptha “Mankind will never see an end of trouble until… lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power… become lovers of wisdom.” Plato, The Republic Many arguments are being made for the legitimization and validity of the Executive Presidency system; amongst many and latest of which is the winning …
By Mike Andree It is very strange how the masses use the ballot to curb the freedoms that they had been enjoying for years. It is only after a long lapse that they come to their senses and realise that they had been led like wild animals to their own doom. Democracy is a double …
Continue reading ‘Kodeeswaran Case, Section 29 and Abolition of Privy Council’ »
Story & Photos by Vajira Wijesuriya A day trip from Anuradhapura, Mihintale is where Buddhism began in Sri Lanka. It is at this location that Arahat Mahinda, who came from India, stopped the Sri Lankan King Dewanampiyatissa from hunting and taught him Dhamma. Easily underestimated, but with many sites to visit, this place warrants an …
Continue reading ‘Mihintale the Cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka’ »
Galle Fort jumping of the ancient citadel walls started in the early 2009 and it is considered an equivalent to the bungee jump, only a lot more dangerous. The jumpers don’t even use an elasticized rope to pull you back from the near death experience, and do not have a clear landing point. This hair-raising …
Continue reading ‘The Daredevils who Jump into the sea from the ramparts of Galle Fort’ »
By Risidra Mendis The Comb Duck, spotted at the Yala National Park after a lapse of over 80 years, was once again being observed in larger numbers at the Wewegama Tank in the Mattala Managed Elephant Range (MER) in June 2012. The Comb Duck species (Sarkidiornis melanotus), believed to be a native of Sri Lanka, …
By Robert Amsterdam In Russia, nationalism takes many forms, bearing down even on the food Russians choose to eat. Politics have resulted in bans on Georgian wine and mineral water, “health concerns” over the sanitary condition of Polish sausages, and now, an easy target, McDonald’s hamburgers are under attack.
by Hevidar Ahmed ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Syrian governmental forces have retreated from the Kurdish regions of Syria without a fight; the liberated cities are now being ruled evenly by the People’s Council of Syrian Kurdistan (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC). According to the information obtained by Rudaw, the Kurdish cities of Kobane, …
Continue reading ‘Kurdish Nationalists Liberate Kurdish Regions in Syria after Army retreats’ »
by Nadira Gunatilleke The UPFA has done a lot for the people during the last eight years. There are landmarks such as ending the war. The people will take into account the macro picture in forming their opinions. I expect the people to vote for the UPFA in large numbers, said National Languages and Social …
by John Rankin | High Commissioner for the UK in Sri Lanka At 9pm (UK time)tonight (July 27th), a newly cast bell that is larger than Big Ben will ring out from London’s Olympic Stadium and the eyes of one billion people across the globe will be upon us. But what will they see? What …
Continue reading ‘British People are Incredibly Proud to Welcome The World’ »
By Jagath Gunawardana The commonest and most widespread of all endemic birds in Sri Lanka is the Small Barbet, which is also known as the Crimson-fronted Barbet, found in many home gardens and even in busy towns, including Colombo. It is often heard than seen and rather difficult to locate by the call.
by Risidra Mendis Animal welfare activists have welcomed the speedy development plans initiated by the newly appointed Director, Dehiwala Zoo, Anura de Silva who assumed duty in June 2012. Visitors who complained about cruelty to animals and other shortcomings at the zoo in the past are now likely to see less cruelty to animals. In …
Continue reading ‘New Director Anura De Silva initiates speedy development plans for Dehiwela Zoo’ »
By Stanley Samarasinghe The Appeal Court today (26) ordered the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Rishard Bathiudeen to show cause as to why he should not be charged for Contempt of Court and further ordered him to appear in person on 5 September. Justice W.L. Ranjith Silva of the Court of Appeal directed the Registrar …
The Law & Society Trust (LST) condemns the mob attack on the Mannar court house, allegedly at the instigation of a Cabinet Minister over a disputed ruling, as well as (reportedly) threatening phone calls to the Mannar Magistrate cum District Judge from the same member of the Government. An attack on a court house is …
Continue reading ‘Law and Society Trust Condemns mob attack on Mannar Court House’ »
By Ayesha Zuhair Newly appointed Attorney-General (AG) Palitha Fernando, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, outlines his vision for the Department and opines that expeditious disposal of cases is the key to reducing the country’s crime rate. The AG points out that coordinated efforts are required to combat crime, and appeals to the general …