By Cassandra Mascarenhas The end of a long period of conflict brings many factors that need to be addressed. The multitude of issues that arise in a post-conflict situation is not easy to manage and requires time. Road Construction in Kilinochchi-pic: np.gov.lk Failure to address these adequately and speedily can result in agitation from the …
By Simon Denyer The defeat of one of the world’s largest and most lethal terrorist organizations — and the end of a three-decade civil war — should have heralded a bright new dawn for the tropical Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka. Placard at a Tamil Protest Rally in NYC, May 8, 2009 The economy …
Interview with editor who was threatened by defence secretary Reporters Without Borders condemns the threats and insults that defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president’s brother, made against Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz during a phone interview on 9 July. “We call on defence secretary Rajapaksa to stop threatening journalists who are doing their job,” Reporters …
Continue reading ‘‘It is well within his (Gota) power to do me harm’ – Frederica Jansz’ »
(United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera has in a letter sent to media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Asia programme Coordinator Bob Dietz complained about “Ceylon Today” editor Hana Ibrahim being the Sri Lanka country representative for CPJ) Reproduced below is the letter:
By Fahad Ansari The poster girl of the pro-democracy movement, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was this month touring Europe in the latest move to normalize Burma’s relationship with the West and remove the pariah status it has lived with for many decades. Suu Kyi spent almost two decades under house arrest in …
Continue reading ‘Aung San Suu Kyi ‘vague’ about persecution of Rohingya Muslims of Burma’ »
In remarks to this newspaper, President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka has said the elections to the country’s Northern provincial council will be held only in September 2013 because the government needs time to update 30-year-old electoral rolls. The explanation for the delay is intriguing. Three other elections have been held since the defeat of …
By Thulasi Muttulingam The traffic situation in Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Fed up with congested, inefficient and uncomfortable public transport, more and more of the urban middle class are opting for private vehicles as soon as they can afford it. The city infrastructure to accommodate all those vehicles is not keeping up though. …
Continue reading ‘Trees on Wijerama Mawatte Cut down to Widen Road!’ »
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj (Continued from Last Week) Monday July 2nd 2012 was a red letter day in the life of Subramaniam Sivakamy alias Thamilini. The 40 year old former women’s division political chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)formally began her period of rehabilitation on that day at the Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation …
Continue reading ‘From Welikada to Vavuniya: Tale of Thamilini’s Transfer-2’ »
by Karu Jayasuriya M.P The Sunday Leader newspaper has reported in their latest edition that Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, has abused their Editor Ms Frederica Jansz in obscene language, threatened and intimidated her. He is quoted, among others, as having told her “You are shit, shit journalist. A f……g shit. A pig who …
by Genomeken Hong Kong was promised 15 years ago, on the eve of repatriation to mainland China, a high level of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” scheme, and no change in the current social and political system in 50 years. Alas, subtle changes of increasing mainlandization are already seen in a mere span …
by Khan.A.Sufyan “We arrived in Darzo (Mizoram, India) about ten in the morning. My orders were to get the villagers to collect whatever moveable property they could, and set their own village on fire at seven in the evening. Night fell, I lit a torch myself and set fire to one of the houses. I …
by R.Bhagwan Singh Over 600 Sri Lankan Tamils have perished in the Indian Ocean sailing from the south Indian coast in sea-unworthy boats for greener pastures in Australia and Canada, says S.C. Chandrahasan, who heads the OfERR (Organisation for Ealam Refugees Rehabilitation), quoting from reliable statistics. He must know since he has been efficiently running …
by Indi Samarajiva The Sri Lankan government is now asking that news websites not only register, but that they also pay Rs. 100,000 for the privilege, plus Rs. 50,000 annually. This addresses the ruling parties personal and financial insecurity in one blow.
By Indi Samarajiva All too often, this is how the government play goes. Someone, usually a Rajapaksa, says something ridiculous. In this case, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called a journalist a ‘pig who eats shit’ and said ‘people will kill you’, all over a puppy story. I know. Then, rather than dialing down on the issue, in …
Continue reading ‘Attacking The Media In Filth, Then Cracking Down On ‘Filthy’ Media’ »
By Mangala Samaraweera MP Over a month ago in June, we said in a statement released to the media, “This country, can not afford to allow such an inefficient, non administrative service person to handle a serious and important ministry as its Secretary, and allow the country to go chaotic and into anarchy. People of …
By Kumudu Kusum Kumara By now the overwhelming majority of university lecturers of the entire state sector university system in Sri Lanka except the Uva Wellassa University have joined the continuous strike launched by the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) since July 4th. It is reported that at Uva Wellassa which the government promotes …
Continue reading ‘Why the Pay Hike Demand of University Teachers is Not Unethical’ »
By Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu The above excerpts need no elucidation. They are from two telephone conversations between the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Editor of the Sunday Leader Frederica Jansz as reported in the Sunday Leader of 08 July 2012.
By Alex Rajasinghe Once upon a time there was the CP, LSSP and other parties and they called themselves socialists. But, most of them like N.M. Perera, Colvin R. De Silva, Leslie Gunewardane, Peter Kenueman, Bernard Soyza belonged to a different class and their education was different. They never could be real socialists however much …
Continue reading ‘Is there anything left of The Left in Sri Lanka?’ »
By Fr. Mervyn Fernando The recent furore over the validity of Z-scores in the A-level examination is very symptomatic of the current malaise of Education in the country – the tip of the iceberg. So it is not surprising that the past few weeks have seen many articles in the newspapers expressing serious concerns about …
Continue reading ‘What is Burning in our Education System and How can we put out the Fire?’ »
by R.K. Radhakrishnan Elections to Sri Lanka’s northern provincial council will take just over a year from now. “We want to hold elections in September 2013,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa told The Hindu. “We are working towards it [the elections] in a systematic manner.” In an interaction at his official residence, Temple Trees, here, Mr. Rajapaksa …
Continue reading ‘Thirteenth Amendment Plus means creation of a Senate says President Rajapaksa’ »
by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha MP I had not been in the East for several months, not least because the North seemed to need much more attention in terms of my work as Adviser on Reconciliation. However, with the system of Divisional Secretariat Reconciliation Committees functioning informatively, if not always effecfively, I thought I should pay …
Continue reading ‘My Recent Visit to East Confirmed that the Govt has Indeed Worked Wonders There’ »
By Kath Noble The threats to senior academic and trade union leader Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri have been condemned by a wide range of individuals and institutions in the last week. picture Courtesy of: http://futa-sl.org/ He is a well known personality in Colombo. More importantly, as the representative of the national body of university teachers, he …
Continue reading ‘Devasiri and Kumara: A Tale of True Sri Lankan Patriots’ »
by Ayesha Zuhair Senior Advisor to the President and Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, in an interview with the”Daily Mirror” , discusses the upcoming elections to three Provincial Councils and responds to some of the criticisms relating to the government’s management of the economy. Excerpts of the interview: Question: Could you explain the rationale …
By Prof. N. Shanmugaratnam Opening Remarks by Professor N. Shanmugaratnam at the workshop on ‘Land Policy and Practices and the Political Process in Post-war Sri Lanka’, University of Oslo, 22 June 2012 I am thankful to the Norwegian Tamil Study Forum for inviting me to address this Workshop and am looking forward to listening to …
Continue reading ‘Question of Land is Intimately Linked to the National Question in Sri Lanka’ »
by Karu Jayasuriya MP We wish to reiterate to the government to at least conduct the proposed provincial council elections according to the guidelines of the Commissioner of Elections and in a free and fair manner, if the government is not scared of the reflection of true public opinion. As already reported in the media …
by Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Text of special address by Secretary Defence and Urban Development, Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the workshop for Sri Lankan ambassadors and heads of missions conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs at Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa.) Good morning. During the course of this session, I will be speaking on the actions …
By Hemantha Warnakulasuriya Two days after my first article, ‘Work is Worship’, Professor Charles Sarvan sent a response to a former colleague of mine at the Foreign Ministry. He very kindly forwarded the same to me and I to use the title he gave, ‘Restoration of the fractured confidence in Tamil Speaking in Sri Lanka.’ …
Continue reading ‘Tamil speaking citizens of Sri Lanka: Restoration of fractured confidence’ »
by B. Nimal Veerasingham (American Jesuit missionary Priest Fr.Eugene John Herbert a native of Louisiana, USA who ushered in the renaissance of Basketball in Batticaloa was reported missing on August 15th 1990 after being seen last in Valaichenai) Though continents apart, New Orleans in a lot of ways brings memories of the Eastern Sri Lankan …
Continue reading ‘Father Herbert: From land of Mississippi to lagoon of the singing fish’ »
By Camelia Nathaniel Sri Lanka’s southern coast is one of the busiest shipping paths in the world and ironically, it is also an area frequented by the fabled blue whales. In recent times there have been many instances where whales, having crossed paths with a ship’s passage, have been killed- or badly injured.
by S.Muthiah From the 1930s to the 1950s, I regularly used to travel between Ceylon and India by train, with a rather sickening 1½ hour sea crossing in between. It was only recently I discovered that this route was finalised a 100 years ago this year, when there was signed an agreement between the South …
by Col R Hariharan Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, is perhaps the most controversial personality in Sri Lanka. He is interviewer’s delight because of his forthright, no-holds barred comments are sure to be a hit. At the same time, he is media man’s nightmare because Gotabhaya does not allow critical comments go unchallenged and …
Continue reading ‘Gotabhaya Rajapaksa shoots from the hip as well as the lip’ »
By Azra Ameen Riots and violence inside prisons are not novel occurrences in Sri Lanka. It was only in January this year that a group of inmates at the Welikada Prison rioted, and in the events that ensued, 26 inmates and several prison guards were injured. This raised a number of questions about the state …
by Camelia Nathaniel For the first time in the history of power generation in the country three consecutive monsoon seasons have failed, plunging the country into a severe power crisis. However, Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka said that in spite of the lack of rains and the dwindling water levels in the …
Continue reading ‘‘Absolutely no Intention of Imposing Power Cuts’-Champika Ranawaka’ »
By Col R Hariharan Sri Lanka air force personnel who had completed part of their technical training at Air Force Station, Tambaram, Chennai were taken off the course and sent to Bangalore after Ms Jayalalitha, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, raised a hue and cry over their presence in Tamil Nadu. The irrepressible chief …
By G.T. Ketharanathan The Colombo SAARC Cultural Centre, which hosted the SAARC Film Festival 2011 once again extended its hospitality for the SAARC Film Festival 2012. The big day was celebrated with all enthusiasm in Colombo on 16 May at the National Film Corporation Cinema Hall. SAARC member countries, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and …
Continue reading ‘Colourful vitality of South Asian Film Festival in Colombo’ »
by Tissa Ravindra Perera Last week, the international Tamil Eelam movement attempted to raise their heads at the Vavuniya prison, where a number of LTTE terrorist suspects are being held. The operation was to hold some prison officers hostage and take full control of the prison. The prison premises located on a 40-perch land was …
Continue reading ‘How the Vavuniya prisoner rebellion was crushed by the STF’ »
by Frederica Jansz Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa went berserk when contacted by The Sunday Leader to clarify and find out if he was aware that the management at SriLankan Airlines had taken a decision to change a wide bodied A340 scheduled to fly to Zurich on Friday July 13, to a smaller A330. The change …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara Never had anyone been at once so ridiculous and so powerful”.Roberto Calasso (The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony) Last week, a group of Lankan airmen found themselves in the middle of a politico-diplomatic storm. Furious at the Centre’s unilateral decision to provide technological training to the Lankan airmen at the Tambaram air …
Continue reading ‘Gap Widens Between Existing Reality and Rajapaksa Fantasy’ »
by Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Dr.Wickramabahu Karunaratne gets more things wrong than right, and he does exaggerate, but he hardly ever lies wittingly. Therefore I have no reason to disbelieve the following extract from his column in the LAKBIMAnEWS of July 1, reporting a meeting in Matara. “MP Sumanthiran was the special speaker at this meeting…Sumanthiran explained …
By Namini Wijedasa In the learning of English in Sri Lanka, the divide between the haves and the have-nots is growing, warned Michael Meyler, author of A Dictionary of Sri Lankan English. In June, Meyler was awarded the title of a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services he provided to …
Continue reading ‘‘Standards’ May have Dropped but English is not Dying in Sri Lanka’ »
By Ranga Jayasuriya Tamil detainee Ganesan Nimalaruban who died on Wednesday (4) was allegedly brutally assaulted by prison officials, denied medical attention, kept in the prison hospital, despite the instructions by a prison doctor to transfer him immediately to the Ragama teaching hospital, and now the magistrate has refused to release the corpse of the …
-How Ammi became Mahinda’s Coordinating Secretary -Why She Respects Sarath Fonseka -Having Govt Ministers at Father’s Statue opening -Her open conversation with Namal Rajapaksa By Namini Wijedasa Hirunika Premachandra, the daughter of assassinated SLFP politician Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, is unhappy that her mother recently accepted a coordinating secretary position from President Mahinda Rajapaksa but said …
By V.I.S Jayapalan In 1970, when the leader of the Peoples Liberation Front (JVP) Rohana Wijeweera was admitted in the Colombo general hospital, I met him with a friend. We requested him to adopt federalism as one of the main policies of JVP in order to open the door for Tamils. He wanted us to …
Continue reading ‘Looking through the fire: Memories and landscapes’ »
by Dilrukshi Handunnetti Suddenly there is awed silence. Strange, given that every passenger just moments ago were busy chatting and positioning their cameras. We all have boarded an unusual flight that circles around the world’s very peak. Yes, we were passengers on the mountain flight- to Everest! We have just boarded the tiny Buddha Air …
Continue reading ‘Going Over the Top of World’s Highest Mountain’ »
by Dr.N.Yogaratnam It is heartening to note that the Coconut Development Ministry and the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) have signed an MOU very recently, on measures to be taken to issue Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or Standard Certifications for coconut- related products. Global The global trade volume for coir fibre, value-added products is now …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Must Vigorously Promote Coir and Coir based Products Globally’ »
By V.I.S Jayapalan Part I Despite what the conditions and dynamics in the future politics of the Island of Sri Lanka may be, even if divided into two countries, our children as Sinhalese and Tamil speaking people have to co-exist as neighbours. To contribute to this, regardless of the fact whether we work for separation …
Continue reading ‘Globalization and national question in Sri Lanka’ »
By John Amaratunga M.P. We are at a decisive moment in our country’s history with either to move forward with a new resolve and vision for peace and prosperity or go back to that dark chapter in our recent history. The concerned citizenry of the country are looking up to the Government to lead a …
Continue reading ‘Country needs power sharing through rational and realistic devolution’ »
by Jayadeva Uyangoda Three years after the Sri Lankan government successfully concluded its military campaign against the secessionist insurgency led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the country has done little to address the root causes of the ethnic conflict. Many in Sri Lanka and beyond believed that the end of the war …
By Simon Denyer JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — In the final days of Sri Lanka’s civil war, as the army closed in for the kill against Tamil Tiger rebels, tens of thousands of civilians cowered in the crossfire. “The children were crying because they were so hungry, so when we heard congee in coconut soup was …
Continue reading ‘Peace Has Been a Painful Disappointment For Tamils In The North’ »
HE Mahinda Rajapaksa President Presidential Secretariat Colombo Your Excellency, Death of Tamil political prisoner Ganesan Nimalaruban at the Mahara remand prison
By Bandula Jayasekara Captain Rohan Moonemalle of Etihad Airways a college mate of mine at Trinity College Kandy wrote to me: “Bandula can you let me know who the publishers of the collection of articles by Ajith Samaranayake are? I would like to buy a few copies. I knew Ajith from the time I was …
Continue reading ‘Remembering Ajith Samaranayake who wrote from the heart’ »
by Shanaka Jayasekara Sri Lanka has a success story to showcase and the fruits of peace and development are real on the ground in the North and East. It is a story of how life has truly transformed from the conflict period to an environment of peace and hope today. This story can only be …
Political and Ethical Issues in Setting up an Engineering Faculty for The Jaffna University-1 BY Dr. S. Ratnajeevan.H.Hoole Dr. S. Ratnajeevan.H.Hoole is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University,USA. He was formerly the Vice- Chancellor of the University of Jaffna and also University Grants Commission Coordinator for Engineering at the Jaffna University. …
by Ananda Kannangara The fleshy ‘hairy balls’ that are in abundance all over Colombo and which are relish grown with love and toil. Will you believe that before these trees are harvested vows are kept for Paththini Deviyo and these vows are fulfilled once the harvest season is over. The fleshy Rambuttans adorning the streets …
Continue reading ‘Malwana is Famous for ‘Fleshy hair balls’ known as Rambutans’ »
by Ruwanthi Abeyakoon ‘Ode to Autumn’ by the famous English Romantic poet John Keats, is what comes to my mind as I travel down the High Level Road. For Keats it was the vines and the apple trees that were loaded and blessed abundantly with fruit but here in Sri Lanka it is all about …
Continue reading ‘From Malaya to Malwana: Rambutan! Rambutan!!’ »
by Chelvathamby Maniccavasagar The Green Memorial Hospital which is located in Manipay was founded in 1847 by Dr Samuel Fiske Green, a young medical graduate from New York, United States, which was later renamed as Green Memorial Hospital in his honour. This mission hospital was the first medical school in Sri Lanka taking in the …
Continue reading ‘Manipay Green Memorial Hospital notches 165 years’ »
by Dr. S. Ratnajeevan.H.Hoole Dr. S. Ratnajeevan.H.Hoole is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University,USA. He was formerly the Vice- Chancellor of the University of Jaffna and also University Grants Commission Coordinator for Engineering at the Jaffna University. This paper titled “Location of an Engineering Faculty in Sri Lanka: The Unusual Criteria …
by Sebastian Rasalingam Please permit me to comment on the article published in your columns on 2 July 2012 by Mr. Hemantha Warnakulasuriya (HW), entitled “The systemic denial of Justice to Tamils in the judicial sphere”. Mr HW recounts the harrowing story of 15 estate Tamils who had come to the capital in search of …
By Chackravarthy ‘What makes Wimbledon great?’. This is how Rolex watch that sponsors the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, spending multimillions of sterling pounds, asks in its advertising campaign. Of course Rolex makes Wimbledon great. But what makes Rolex great? Come to the last line of the article. Tourneau in Madison Ave, NYC – a luxury watch …
Continue reading ‘If Rolex makes Wimbledon Great, then what makes Rolex Great?’ »
by Karu Jayasuriya MP We came across media reports stating that the attention of the President and the general public has been drawn to the breakdown of law and order, wave of murders and related incidents which occurred during the past few days. There was a huge outcry in the country regarding the murder of …
Continue reading ‘It is duty of Opposition in Democratic Countries to show right path to The Govt’ »
by N Sathiya Moorthy Independent of the results, which seem to be a foregone conclusion at the moment, the run-up to the presidential poll has exposed chinks in the rival alliances, existing and prospective. At one stage, the presidential poll was also seen as a forerunner to the parliamentary elections that are due in 2014, …
Continue reading ‘Indian Presidential poll: Possibilities,Prospects and Problems’ »
by Shanaka Jayasekara Foreign policy of a country is formulated to advance the national interest and achieve the best possible outcome. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka foreign policy is not determined by national interest but by irrational interest. If we accept the notion that the government’s blueprint for overall policy making is the Mahinda Chinthana, then …
By Dr Tilak Siyambalapitiya We never seem to learn! Sri Lanka messed around with the Norochcholai coal-fired power plant over 1993-2005, and we still pay for the sins of the politicians, religious leaders and NGOs that blocked the vital power plant. Today, as stated by the Honourable Minister himself, the country would be reeling with …
Date: 2012-06-13 Docket: IMM-3842-11 Citation: 2012 FC 745 Ottawa, Ontario, June 13, 2012 PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice O’Keefe BETWEEN: NADARAJAH KURUPARAN BAHMINI KURUPARAN MAIYURAN KURUPARAN KIRUSHANTHY KURUPARAN Applicants and THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION Respondent REASONS FOR JUDGMENT AND JUDGMENT [1] This is an application pursuant to subsection 72(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, …
Continue reading ‘Naval Commodore (retd) Nadarajah Kuruparan Case in Canada: Text of Judgement’ »
by Salma Yusuf In Sri Lanka’s post-war context, two national mechanisms have been put in place. First, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report released at the end of 2011 calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka , among others, to work towards a political solution that is favourable and acceptable to all sides …
Continue reading ‘Implementation of National Processes is Critical for Post-War Nation Building’ »
by Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. The issue of disappearances, which looms so large in public discourse at present, is hardly mentioned in the National Human Rights Action Plan. This is understandable because the Plan is intended for the future, to ensure that Human Rights are not violated, and therefore it suggests mechanisms to prevent disappearances occurring …
Continue reading ‘The Issue of Disappearances is a Significant one Requiring Concerted Action’ »
By Kath Noble The cancellation a month ago of another overseas speech by Mahinda Rajapaksa due to protests by the Tamil diaspora has intensified debate on Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. Does it need to change? Or is it just being poorly implemented by the country’s diplomats?
Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is dismayed by the statements issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the CVCD (Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors) on the trade union action of a continuous strike called by the Federation of University Teachers’ Asscociations (FUTA) from 4th July, 2012. The statements suggest that FUTA has …
(New York, July 3, 2012) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately end harassment of media outlets and journalists in violation of the right to freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. In the three years since the end of the armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s …
By Risidra Mendis A rare bird believed to be extinct and not spotted for the last 80 years was suddenly seen in Yala by a nature lover recently. The Comb Duck species believed to be a native of Sri Lanka was presumed to be wiped out as there were no recordings of its presence in …
Continue reading ‘Rare Comb Duck sighted in Sri Lanka after 80 years’ »
By Erik Olsen MIRISSA, Sri Lanka — In early April, whale watchers off this country’s southern coast were greeted by a disturbing sight: the lifeless body of a 60-foot-long blue whale floating in the water about 12 miles offshore. Click to see video: Marine biologist Asha de Vos wants to save a little understood population …
by Hemantha Warnakulasuriya The perennial question posed by chauvinists, morbid racists and even moderates, who do not subscribe to the views of the other two groups, is ‘ what are the rights the Tamils are denied as against Sinhalese?’ Even I am sometimes dumb founded by such remarks as a ready answer is not available. …
Continue reading ‘The systemic denial of Justice to Tamils in the judicial sphere’ »
By Gomin Dayasri The staggered premature provincial council elections are to test the pulse of the people with a purpose not necessarily to present the people with another democratic opportunity to exercise their franchise. More for the government to inspect the ground conditions to obtain a pitch report – to decide whether to bat or …
by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka The provincial elections–the ones scheduled to be held as well as the one that isn’t—are the subject of political comment. Three are to be held ahead of schedule, resulting in a dual criticism. One is that they are untimely and the other that they serve solely the interests of the ruling …
By David Griffiths I was very privileged to attend Aung San Suu Kyi’s historic speech to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall last week. Delivered with characteristic dignity, it blended an elegant commentary on recent developments in Burma with some rich reflections on the nature of democracy itself, and concluded with a call for …
By Jayadeva Ranade Traditionally close Indo-Sri Lankan ties forged by shared culture and ethnicity and reinforced by history and legend, are showing signs of coming under strain. Partially caused by New Delhi’s failure to provide more forthcoming policy responses to Colombo’s requests, India’s diplomatic influence is now getting eroded. China stepped in to occupy the …
Continue reading ‘Indian influence over Sri Lanka shrinks while Chinese influence expands’ »
Sri Lanka’s popular website, Srilankamirror.com, extends its heartiest gratitude to the US and Indian embassies, the European Union, political parties, parliamentarians, media organizations and various other groups who have come forward and mediated in securing the release of the arrested editor and other staff of the website and for defending the right to information. We …
Continue reading ‘Raided Colombo website resumes function from July 2nd’ »
Ananda Vikatan, a popular current affairs and lifestyle magazine in Tamil Nadu with a circulation of over five hundred thousand copies, featured a hard hitting and extensive interview with the former Army Chief, Sarath Fonseka, as a special feature in its issue of 20 June 2012. The magazine is also popular among the Sri Lankan …
Continue reading ‘Gen Sarath Fonseka tells truth about Prabhakaran’s death to Tamil Nadu magazine’ »
by Lalith Weeratunga I am greatly honored to have been invited by the Principal, Royal College, my alma mater, to be the Chief Guest at the launch of a landmark publication, “History of Royal College – 1985 to 2010”. Having entered Royal in 1961 as a First Former and having come from a village in …
Continue reading ‘Crafting the definition of what a true Sri Lankan should be’ »
by Upali S. Jayasekera Mr. Wijedasa Rajapakse, an eminent member of the legal profession and a politician of stature has suggested legislation against the Sangha from participating in politics. Mr. Rajapakse should be congratulated for deciding to propose such legislation. All Buddhists should support the move. I fully agree with him. Why does a person …
Continue reading ‘Buddhist Priests must be banned from politics to restore respect for the Sanga’ »
by Frederica Jansz In a blatant disregard of the laws of this country Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines Nishantha Wickremesinghe admitted to The Sunday Leader that his son Shehan Michael Wickremesinghe violated Sri Lanka Customs regulations when he brought with him foreign exchange to the equivalent of Rs. 3.1 million in April this year and …
by Patalai Champika Ranawaka I have no issues with the Indian media. However, I cannot say the same for its politicians, especially those from Tamil Nadu. All political parties in Tamil Nadu have once again started a poisonous campaign to split Sri Lanka. The Tamil National Allaince (TNA) is aiding this attempt from this country …
by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne There were two mass protests that took place last week, both very important. On 19 June there was a protest in the North against land grabbing, called by the TNA. The NSSP was also invited and a group led by Jenagen and Ranath participated in the event. Riot control commandos of …
by Dr. Sarath Amunugama When the Secretary of our Party, Maitripala Sirisena, asked me whether I would like to join the party’s reorganization campaign in Batticaloa district, I had no hesitation in accepting. It may not have been a very rational decision considering the fact that my Labugolla Farm in Hataraliyadde is on the border …
Continue reading ‘Revisiting Batticaloa and reviving memories’ »
by Maryam Azwer What began with a stay order preventing protests from taking place in Jaffna on June 18, has ended with the editor of a Tamil newspaper being called to court and asked to apologise for an article. Editor of Tamil newspaper, Uthayan, Thevanayagam Premananth, was last Friday (June 29) summoned to court by …
by Amal Jayasinghe COLOMBO, June 30, 2012 (AFP) – The United States Saturday joined rights groups in demanding that Sri Lanka stop “harassing” media organisations, a day after police shut down opposition news websites and arrested nine workers. The US embassy in Colombo said it was closely following Colombo’s shutting down of the websites and …
Continue reading ‘US Embassy in Colombo issues statement demanding an end to media harassment’ »
Opposition parties must unite to abolish the Executive Presidency
by Camelia Nathaniel Bereavement for families of a missing person is an unrelenting anguish. The suddenness of a person vanishing and not knowing what has happened, disallows the family to accept the finality of death. Saroja Devi and Tharsalamma, the mothers of Leon Roxi and Hudson Lorantine, the uncertainty of not knowing whether their sons …
Continue reading ‘Enduring anguish of mothers whose children are reported ‘missing’’ »
By Risidra Mendis A small toad believed to be extinct and not spotted since 1876 was rediscovered by a group of scientists at the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary. The Kandyan Dwarf toad, Adenomus kandianus (Günther, 1872) was first recorded in 1872 and then vanished for over a century before been accidently found by the group of …
Continue reading ‘Endemic Kandyan Dwarf Toad believed to be extinct is re-discovered in Lanka’ »
Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns today’s police raids on the offices of two Colombo-based news websites, the SriLankaMirror and SriLankaXNews, in which eight of their journalists and an office assistant were arrested. “We call for the immediate release of all those detained,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The exact reasons for the raids on these two …
Continue reading ‘Nine arrested in Colombo Police raid on offices of two web sites’ »
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Subramaniam Sivakamy alias Thamilini was transferred from the Colombo Remand Prison(CRP) in Welikade to the Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation Centre(PARC)at Poonthottam in Vavuniya on June 26th.The former woman political commissar of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE)was transferred on an order to that effect issued by Colombo chief magistrate Rashmi Singappuli on …
Continue reading ‘From Welikade to Vavuniya: Tale of Thamilini’s transfer’ »
by N. Sathiya Moorthy It did not require rocket science to decipher what Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was referring to when he addressed the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), Rio+20, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “A cardinal principle governing the behaviour of nations in the modern world should be recognition of the principle …
By Salma Yusuf A fact accorded scant credence in our times is that the personal and professional can be inextricably linked in the sphere of international and foreign relations. This was the perception distilled from an event held last week to mark the second death anniversary of veteran Sri Lankan diplomat Vernon L.B. Mendis.
Overview 12 District Inter Religious Councils have been established in their respective areas including the North and East, comprising religious and civil society leaders, committed towards seeking humanitarian solutions to issues faced by women and children in post war Sri Lanka. Additionally a National Council has been established, along with 3 Provincial councils, comprising of …
by Raisa Wickrematunge The opening ceremony of the Olympics is always a glittering tableau which hundreds of thousands of people tune in to watch. The idea is to showcase the culture of the host country; but the real highlight is the symbolic lighting of the Olympic torch. A single, burning flame travels a great distance …
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Mahinda Rajapaksa have stressed the need for a new world order at their meeting over the weekend. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio, Brazil.
(text of letter sent by a group of Catholic Clergy to President Mahinda Rajapaksa) We, the members of the Christian Solidarity Movement, are distressed by the media reports that Dr. Nirmal R. Devasiri of FUTA has been intimidated by a group of unknown men who have arrived by a jeep at his neighbourhood to inquire …
The National Cadet Corps (NCC) recently commissioned 21 Tamil speaking Probationary Officers of the NCC as Second Lieutenants, with the aim of strengthening the cadet movement in the Northern area as a part of extending equal opportunities to Tamil school children of the North. Cadetting was a very popular extra-curricular activity in leading schools of …
By Ajit Kumar Singh In a similar tenor, the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Ata Hasnain, now Military Secretary to Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh, on June 8, 2012, had observed, “The situation in Kashmir is unpredictable and dynamic. It changes colours fast.” Terrorism-related fatalities in …
by Gomin Dayasri “In the past the United States and India stood against us. However, in the favourable circumstances that have now come about, the United States and India are to a great extent supporting our position” -Sampanthan (2012) at ITAK Convention- R.Sampanthan’s road map of a long march to bifurcate Sri Lanka is routed …
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By Ayesha Zuhair Sarah Mann, Spokesperson for the British High Commission in Colombo has informed us that Britain respects the legitimate right of UK citizens to protest. “We respect the legitimate right of UK citizens to protest, but this has to be balanced with the right to free speech,” she said in response to accusations …
by Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. One of the saddest aspects of the last three years has been the corrosive distrust between all political players. This is almost relentlessly exacerbated by several factors. The first, and perhaps the most worrying, is what I term a failure of rationalism, the practice of judging situations not in terms of …
By Kath Noble I’m no fan of Sarath Fonseka, but he’s got one thing right. Something has to be done about the corrupt political culture in Sri Lanka. At his first press conference after being released from prison, the former Army Commander identified tackling corruption and nepotism as his top priority. These are issues the …
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by Panini Anand No individual critic has taken on the Indian State like Arundhati Roy has. In a fight that began with Pokhran, moved to Narmada, and over the years extended to other insurgencies, people’s struggles and the Maoist underground, she has used her pensmanship to challenge India’s government, its elite, corporate giants, and most …
University academics in Sri Lanka have been exercising their rights of freedom of thought and expression, association and peaceful assembly and articulating broader issues of national concern for many decades. Academics have also exercised trade union rights during this period. The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is the umbrella trade union of nearly 43 …
by Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka While everything is debatable, not everything is negotiable. Some things, a few things, simply must not be negotiable. The territorial unity and integrity of the Sri Lankan state, Sri Lanka as a single indivisible country, must never be up for negotiation.
By Hemantha Warnakulasuriya In the 2012 Gallup poll, conducted by the US in the Asian region, to find the chief executive with highest approval rating, President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, came third with a 91 percent approval rating. It was conducted by a US-based agency.
by Melani Manel Perera Mannar (AsiaNews) – They live in the jungle, on the ground without a roof or a tent over their heads, surrounded by elephants, snakes and other wildlife. There are 145 families, 285 Tamil Catholics from the village of Mullikulam in Mannar District (Northern Province, Sri Lanka).
By Glenn Greenwald If one asks current or former WikiLeaks associates what their greatest fear is, almost none cites prosecution by their own country. Most trust their own nation’s justice system to recognize that they have committed no crime. The primary fear is being turned over to the US. That is the crucial context for …
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by Jimmy Carter THE United States is abandoning its role as the global champion of human rights. Photo By: Geoff Holtzman ~ Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs copies of his new book “White House Diary” during an event held at the Politics and Prose bookstore located in Northwest Washington, DC-Nov 2010 Revelations that top …
By Kalinga Seneviratne At the Rio+20 Conference from June 20 to 22 in Brazil, Bolivian President Eva Morales described the ‘green economy’ as new colonialism that rich countries sought to impose on developing countries. “They want to create intervention mechanisms to monitor and assess our national policies using environmental concerns as an excuse,” he said.