By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham The Sri Lankan Supreme Court’s landmark judgment last week that State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage was legally ineligible to serve as a Member of Parliament (MP) on the grounds that she was not a Sri Lankan citizen raises some crucial questions. The Supreme Court gave the ruling after hearing an appeal …

Continue reading ‘Diana Gamage who came to Parliament on the Samagi Jana Balawegaya(SJB) National List, has been an MP for almost four years without being a citizen of any country.’ »

by Krishantha Prasad Cooray There is no day in the calendar that can be called ‘Mother’s Day,’ not as far as mothers themselves are concerned. They don’t cease to be mothers on days that are not called ‘Mother’s Day.’ And yet, the 12th of May or rather the second Sunday in the month of May, …

Continue reading ‘Your mother is the one who will stand by you even if the entire world is against you. Christobel Cooray my Amma stood by me. She stands by me. It’s love, unadulterated. Children are reminded of all that when Mother’s Day comes around’ »

ம. ஆ. சுமந்திரன் பா.உ 2009 மே மாதம் நிகழ்ந்த முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் படுகொலைகளை இந்த வாரம் நாம் நினைவுகூருகிறோம். யுத்தத்தின் இறுதிக்கட்டத்திலே எந்தத் திசையிலும் தப்பியோட முடியாமல், தொடர்ச்சியாக அன்பானவர்களை இழந்தவண்ணமாக, வெறுங்கையர்களாக எமது மக்கள் , உணவில்லாமல், கஞ்சி மட்டும் குடித்தபடி, பாரிய நெருக்கடியிலும், துயரத்திலும் கழித்த நாட்கள் இவை. துப்பாக்கி, வெடிகுண்டு சத்தங்கள் மௌனித்த பின்பு, தாம் அகப்பட்டிருந்த இடத்திலிருந்து மக்கள் வெளியேறிய போது, பலர் அரச படைகளினால் சுட்டுக்கொல்லப்பட்டதும், மற்றவர்கள் பல விதங்களில் …

Continue reading ‘முக்கால் நூற்றாண்டு போராட்டமும் எமது தேசத்தின் எதிர்காலமும்’ »

Embattled former State Minister Diana Gamage yesterday expressed her refusal to accept the recent Supreme Court ruling that disqualified her from Parliament, due to the political conspiracy behind it. Addressing the media for the first time following the ruling, Gamage levelled accusations against Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma …

Continue reading ‘Unseated MP Diana Gamage Alleges that she was Disqualified as a Parliamentarian due to a Conspiracy Orchestrated against her by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya; Accuses SJB of Hatred Politics and Urges Women to be Cautious in voting for the Leader of the Opposition in Elections’ »

By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka has agreed to purchase power at $0.0826, or 8.26 cents, per kWh from Adani Green Energy, which is executing a wind power project in Mannar and Pooneryn in the island’s Northern Province. The country’s Cabinet cleared a proposal on Monday for a 20-year power purchase agreement with Adani Green Energy …

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka to Purchase Power at 8.26 cents per kWh from India’s Adani Green Energy which will generate 484 MW Power Annually from a 442 $ millon wind power project at Mannar and Pooneryn in the Island’s Northern Province’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The protracted struggle by Sri Lankan Tamils to achieve justice and equality in the Island has brought into prominence several colourful and controversial personalities. Among such persons was a Tamil Nationalist political activist who adopted the nom de plume “Eelaventhan”meaning King of Eelam. Eelaventhan whose real name was MK Kanakenthran was active in …

Continue reading ‘The Tamil Nationalist Who Dubbed Himself as the “King of Eelam”.’ »

The Supreme Court in a unanimous verdict delivered yesterday unseated State Minister Diana Gamage. The Court held that Gamage was disqualified to be a Parliamentarian as she has no Sri Lankan citizenship. As a result a new seat in Parliament opens up for Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). Justice Janak De Silva reading portions of the …

Continue reading ‘State Minister Diana Gamage Unseated as MP ! Supreme Court in Unanimous Ruling States the Samagi Jana Balawegaya Appointed National List MP is disqualified to be a Parliamentarian as she has no Sri Lankan Citizenship.’ »

By Meera Srinivasan A fortnight after Sri Lanka switched to a new visa issuing system, authorities are facing a backlash over higher visa costs that could deter tourists, “Indian involvement”, and “corruption” in the subject minister’s push to outsource visa processing. Beginning April 17, 2024, Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration directed travellers to …

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan authorities are facing a backlash over higher visa costs that could deter tourists , after a new visa portal, run by VFS Global, for online visa application processing Started Operations from 17 April 2024.’ »

By Kishali Pinto – Jayawardene Do the actions of the Wickremesinghe Presidency and his Cabinet reflect strategic decision-making on the cusp of majorly significant national elections in Sri Lanka?\ The Government’s markedly asinine behaviour The latest controversy to erupt is over the Cabinet outsourcing the handling of on-arrival visas to foreigners at the national airport …

Continue reading ‘Public Security Minister Tiran Alles has a penchant for conduct that sits oddly with his ministerial duties, the latest being his declaring ‘Open Sesame’ to the police to use their weapons to ‘eliminate criminals.’ »

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The first part of this article published in the “Daily Mirror”of 20 April 2024 under the heading “Ranil Wickremesinghe caravan moves on despite barking dogs” has evoked a lot of reader responses. In a climate of Ranil-bashing many seem to be happy that Wickremesinghe’s courageous decision to accept the challenge of leading …

Continue reading ‘Ranil Plans to Contest 2024 Presidential Election as an independent non -party common candidate (Nirpakshika Podu Apekshaya) backed by a group of parties, organizations and key individuals’ »

By Meera Srinivasan With a presidential election expected later this year,the May Day rallies o fall main political parties in Sri Lanka seemed a prelude to their poll campaigns. Leaders of various political camps made a direct pitch to the people in their respective public events, seeking their support in what would be the first …

Continue reading ‘President Ranil Wickremesinghe Announces 700 Rupee Pay Increase to Plantation Workers at Ceylon Workers Congress May Day Rally at Kotagala; Current Daily Wage Rs 1000 Goes up to 1700 Rupees.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj In life, he was a controversial character who was mostly in the news for the wrong reasons.. He was a Parliamentarian who brandished a knife against a fellow MP during a brawl in the House. He had a notorious reputation for getting things done in the way he wanted by engaging in pressure …

Continue reading ‘UNP Kalutara Ex-MP Palitha Thewarapperuma was Called a “Hitha Honda Chandiya”(Good Hearted Strongman/Thug)’ »

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Doubt is not a pleasant condition. But certainty is an absurd one.” Voltaire (Letter to Fredrick the Great – 28.11.1770) Sri Lanka’s road to ruin was marked by miracles. The story, born in mystery, spread across the land at the speed of light. Luminous rays were emanating from Buddha statues. For three …

Continue reading ‘The SJB and the JVP/NPP do not seem to have broken with Rajapaksa economics entirely. Both parties seem to think that Sri Lanka can have guns, rice, low taxes and low borrowings if corruption and waste are eliminated.’ »

Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK) Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam on Thursday accused the infamous Tripoli platoon, a paramilitary intelligence unit, of involvement in the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019. Speaking during the debate on the Easter Sunday attacks, Rasamanickam said the group had been involved in a spate of killings since early 2005, long before …

Continue reading ‘ITAK Batticaloa MP Shaniyan Rasamanickam Urges President Wickremesinghe to Arrest TMVP B’caloa MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan to find out the truth about Easter Bombing attacks’ reveals explosive details about alleged crimes committed by “Tripoli Platoon” in Parliament speech’ »

By Ranjith Padmasiri The Anuradhapura High Court on Friday passed a death sentence on five police officers who were found guilty of killing eight Tamil civilians at the Bharathipuram village in Kantale, Trincomalee 26 years ago. The sentence was passed by High Court Judge Manoj Thalgodapitiya. The five police officers were attached to the Bharathipuram …

Continue reading ‘Five Policemen Comprising an Inspector,Sub-inspector and three Constables Found Guilty of Killing Eight Tamil Civilians at Bharathipuram in Trincomalee district 26 Years ago Sentenced to Death by Anuradhapura High Court Manoj Thalgodapitiya’ »

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene An (un)holy row has erupted between Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, head of Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa regarding ‘who said what’ in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks on April 21st 2019 by ‘home grown’ jihadists. Symbolic punishment is insufficient Examining several aspects of this dispute is relevant …

Continue reading ‘The “Unholy “Row Between Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and Ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Regarding the Easter Sunday Attacks by Home Grown Jihadists on 21 April 2019’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “ The Dogs bark but the Caravan moves on”is a proverbial saying of supposedly Turkish origin. Caravan in this instance refers to a group of people, animals or vehicles on the move. As is natural members of the canine species respond to the strange sight of a caravan in their midst by barking. …

Continue reading ‘The Ranil Wickremesinghe Caravan Moves Forward Despite Barking Dogs.’ »

by Krishantha Prasad Cooray Robert Frost once wrote, ‘Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.’ It’s a place like Hotel California in the popular Eagles song by that name — you can check out any time you like but you can never leave. It’s all …

Continue reading ‘Why is there so much braggadocio about drug pushers being arrested and drug caches being seized, but nothing concrete is done to stop the inflow of drugs?’ »

By Kshama Ranawana Election fever is hotting up in Sri Lanka, and this time around the most coveted by Opposition parties are those affected by the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. It’s been a long five years of waiting for the masterminds to be publicly named and brought to justice. Yet, incumbent governments choose to ignore …

Continue reading ‘For five long years , Sri Lankan governments have thumbed their noses at the Catholic church leading the call for accountability and justice for the Easter Sunday bombings.’ »

By Meera Srinivasan The Global South must strive for their strength and autonomy, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday, even as he thanked his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, who inaugurated a key power and irrigation project in the island nation. Expressing “gratitude to Iran for their technical support”, Mr. Wickremesinghe emphasised that without …

Continue reading ‘Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Arrives in Sri Lanka to Inaugurate Iran -funded Irrigation and Power Project amid Media Reports of “Western Pressure” on Colombo; Lankan President Wickremesinghe Thanks his Counterpart and says “Global South must Strive for Strength and Autonomy”.’ »

By Ranga Jayasuriya Five years ago, on Easter Sunday, a group of local Islamists carried out coordinated suicide attacks targeting three churches and tourist hotels, killing over 270 worshipers and tourists and wounding 500 others. The fifth anniversary of that heinous crime, which fell last Sunday (April 21), turned out to be a sordid display …

Continue reading ‘The whole discourse of the Easter Sunday attack is degenerating into a sordid freakshow where the state, and not the Islamists who blew up the innocents, stand accused.’ »

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene That a State Minister has called upon President Ranil Wickremesinghe to pardon Gnanasara Thero now serving his most recent sentence of four years handed down by the Colombo High Court last month for ‘outraging religious feelings’ of adherents of the Islamic faith in 2016, should surprise no one. Politico-military-religious impunity No doubt, …

Continue reading ‘Gnanasara Thero’s rhetoric, which eminently qualifies as hate speech during a press conference called by him, was directly aimed at the Muslim religion and its founder in referencing the Kuragala pre- historic archaeological site.’ »

By Arjuna Ranawana Five years on, Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombings has left us with more questions than answers. Both the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government and now the Ranil Wickremesinghe tenure has been shown up poorly in terms of ensuring the masterminds and those who failed to prevent the bombings are bought to book. As one …

Continue reading ‘The Easter Sunday victims have been political pawns these past five years, just as the many others who lost family members in the various conflicts the country have been through.They too, are still awaiting justice.’ »

By Krishantha Prasad Cooray Mangala Samaraweera would have turned 68 today, and had he not succumbed to Covid-19, I am certain we would have met and raised a cheer for all that is worthy of celebration even in the worst of times. He left us at a critical moment in our political history. Indeed, critical …

Continue reading ‘Mangala Samaraweera was a leader who saw things that others didn’t see. He was bold and had the courage of his convictions, never afraid to stand up for what he believed, whether or not the world appreciated it, and indeed whether or not it was a marginal or minority position that he was espousing.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK) known in English as the Federal Party will celebrate its 75th Birthday in December this year. The premier political party of the Sri Lankan Tamil people known as “Ilankai Thamizhar”in their mother tongue was born on 18 December 1949. On that day, a group of sixty Tamils including …

Continue reading ‘SJV Chelvanayakam and the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK)/Federal Party(FP).’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The encounter between the Fox and Crow is an ancient tale heard by most Sri Lankans in their childhood days. The crow has a vadai or kavun or piece of cheese in its beak. The crafty fox wants it and flatters the crow into thinking it is a harmonious singer with a sweet …

Continue reading ‘A US “Kaputa” (Crow) ,a Lankan “Nariya” (Fox) and a Presidential Election “Feast”.’ »

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama Mage Rata organization president Sanjaya Mahawatta today, lodged a complaint with the Illegal Assets Investigations Division, calling for an inquiry into model Piumi Hansamali using the Range Rover vehicle previously used by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. “It is clear that an election is near and politicians tend to inject all their …

Continue reading ‘Complaint Lodged with Illegal Assets Investigation Division that Actress – Model Piyumi Hansamali is Allegedly Using Range Rover vehicle (CBH 1949) Worth 100 Million Rupees that was Earlier Used by Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Current media coverage in Sri Lanka is heavily focused on the forthcoming Presidential elections. Though officially not announced yet, it seems a foregone conclusion that the presidential poll would take place later this year. Several potential candidates ranging from incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe to media magnate Dilith Jayaweera are tipped to be in …

Continue reading ‘“Siva Senai”(Siva’s Army) Leader Sachithananthan Weakens Tamil Nationalism Further by Widening the Hindu-Christian Divide.’ »

The killing started on April 7th 1994, as members of the presidential guard began assassinating opposition leaders and moderates in the government. Within hours the genocide of Rwanda’s minority Tutsis was under way. It was among the fastest mass killings in history: 100 days later three-quarters of Rwanda’s Tutsis, about 500,000 people, were dead. Most …

Continue reading ‘The International Court of Justice has no jurisdiction over war crimes other than genocide, which encourages complainants to allege genocide even when the facts do not support it. That cheapens the taboo against genocide and discredits the ICJ- “The Economist”’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The once powerful Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) waged war against the Sri Lankan state for over thirty years. The LTTE known popularly as the tigers was the determining force in Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades. The decline of the LTTE began in 2004 when its Batticaloa and Amparai district special …

Continue reading ‘Karuna”s Rebel Tigers May Have Lost the Eastern Battle but Ultimately the Prabhakaran-led LTTE Lost the Eelam War.’ »

By Kishali Pinto – Jayawardene National People’s Power (NPP) presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s pronouncement in Jaffna earlier this week that he did not come to bargain for votes by assuring that he would give ’13 plus’ or a ‘federal solution’ begs the crucial question as to what exactly is the NPP’s public position in …

Continue reading ‘What Is NPP Presidential Candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Position on Thorny Issues like “!3 Plus”, “Federal Solution” and Militarisation of the State?’ »

By Shiranee Mills In the bicentennial year of Uduvil Girls’ College, especially during the month of April, our thoughts dwell closely on the founder principal of the school, Harriet Wadsworth Winslow (née Lathrop), whose birthday falls on April 9. Born in 1796, in Norwich, Connecticut, in the USA, Harriet from a young age, was filled …

Continue reading ‘Remembering Harriet Winslow the Founder Principal of Asia’s First All-Girls Boarding School – Uduvil Girls’ College in Jaffna.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “Putting your foot in your mouth” is a figurative expression about a person saying or doing something that should not be done or not have been said, especially if it embarrasses the person concerned or someone else. Among those who frequently put their feet into their mouhs are politicians of all kinds and …

Continue reading ‘When “Aiyo” Sirisena Accused India’s RAW of Plotting to Assassinate Him While he was the President.’ »

By Krishantha Prasad Cooray When people who have the same first name meet up, there’s name-related humour. The more, the merrier, obviously, especially if they are good friends and enjoy friendly banter. Today I am thinking of three people who share the name Michael: Michael Tissera, Michael Sproule and Michael De Zoysa, all three who …

Continue reading ‘There are cricketers and gentlemen, but gentleman cricketers are rare. Lanka’s Former Cricket Captain Michael Tissera who Celebrated his 85th Birthday is one, for so many reasons.’ »

By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka sees no reason for re-opening talks on Katchatheevu that India gave up 50 years ago, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has said, in the first official reaction yet to the recent remarks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on the island. “This is a …

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka sees no reason for re-opening talks on Katchatheevu that India gave up 50 years ago says Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry in First Official Reaction by Sri Lanka to Remarks made by Indian PM Modi and Foreign Minister Jaishankae’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The course of war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) and the Sri Lankan armed forces was drastically altered by the 2004 eastern revolt headed by former tiger commander of the Batticaloa and Amparai districts Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan alias “Col”Karuna. The LTTE was split vertically and horizontally as a result and gradually weakened. …

Continue reading ‘How the LTTE Crushed “Col” Karuna’s Eastern Tiger Revolt Through Force.’ »

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “We too live in a time when political structures we inhabit are fluid and perhaps on the cusp of great and potentially dangerous changes.” – Richard Whatmore (The end of enlightenment) Namal Rajapaksa had his crowning as crown prince last week. The SLPP titled the Tangalle meeting, “Let’s begin the Battle from …

Continue reading ‘Namal Rajapaksa anointed at Tangalle Meeting as king-in-waiting plus enabler and defender of Sinhala-Buddhist Lanka Torch of leadership passing from father and uncle to son/nephew. The SLPP is the only Lankan party founded to enthrone a family.’ »

(Text of Editorial Appearing in the “Daily Financial Times”of 2nd April 2024 Under the Heading “Katchatheevu was not India’s to “give away”) Last week, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again raised a popular trope on the sovereignty of Katchatheevu and criticised his political opponents, the Congress party for ‘ceding’ the island to Sri Lanka …

Continue reading ‘The constant provocative claims on Sri Lankan territory, especially from the highest echelons of power in India, would only force our country to seek security guarantees elsewhere. it would be tragic for all concerned if Sri Lanka needs to apply the foreign policy theory of finding ‘friends’ elsewhere to protect itself against a ‘near foe’. -Daily FT’ »

(Text of Editorial Appearing in “The Hindu”of 2nd April 2024 Under the Heading “No man’s land: Playing politics over Katchatheevu “) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by raking up the contentious matter of Katchatheevu, has set an unhealthy trend of politicising an issue for electoral gains, and one that has bearing on ties with Sri Lanka. …

Continue reading ‘“By raking up the contentious matter of Katchatheevu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set an unhealthy trend of politicising an issue for electoral gains, and one that has bearing on ties with Sri Lanka.”- The Hindu’ »

By Meera Srinivasan The Sri Lankan government is yet to comment on the recent remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Katchatheevu, but the island nation’s media took a critical view of the development, while fishermen’s associations urged Sri Lankan authorities to take up the issue of bottom trawling …

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Newspapers Hit out Strongly Against “Katchatheevu”Remarks by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar’ »

By LAKMAL SOORIYAGODA Former President Maithripala Sirisena has informed the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court that he will not provide a confidential statement before the magistrate in connection with his controversial revelation regarding the Easter Sunday attacks. Court had earlier directed the former President to appear before Court on April 4 following a request by the Criminal …

Continue reading ‘Former President Maithripala Sirisena Informs Maligakanda Magistrate Lochani Abeywickrema that he would not Provide a Fresh Confidential Statement in Court as he has already done so to the CID’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (Peoples Liberation Front) led Jathika Jana Balawegaya ( National People’s Power is a left-leaning, working class-oriented broad front consisting of the JVP and 27 other organisations. These entities comprise small parties, trade unions, rights groups, Women, student and youth organisations. The JVP is the pivotal, pre-eminent force in the …

Continue reading ‘How FSP Leader Kumar Gunaratnam Fought the Indian Army in 1989 as the Trincomalee JVP Commander “Gemunu”’ »

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene Does the Sri Lankan Government believe that posting hundreds of military officers with guns at the ready in front of churches during the Christian Holy Week, will suffice to mitigate monumental lapses on the part of the State in not (properly) investigating or prosecuting those responsible for the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks? …

Continue reading ‘After unforgivably allowing a disaster of the magnitude of the 2019 attacks on churches and hotels to occur at the hands of local jihadists, what is the point of parading military men before churches now?’ »

By Mimi Alphonsus When renowned global TV chef and documentarian, Anthony Bourdain, tried street food on Galle Face Green for his episode in Sri Lanka in 2017, the public seaside walkway bustled with “issovadai” carts and “kottu” stands. Today, it’s a starkly different story. The vendors say the authorities have told them to clear out. …

Continue reading ‘“Isso vadai”Cart and “Kottu Rotti”Stand Vendors Forbidden on Galle Face Green from 2024 Independence Day; SLPMCS Cites Sanitation Issues as Reason but Others Suspecct “Gentrification” of vendors and Plans of moving them to Underground spaces as real motive’ »

By Lakshmi Sreeram (Lakshmi Sreeram is a musician and teaches at Ahmedabad University.) The Sangitha Kalanidhi is a coveted award given annually by The Music Academy, Chennai, to a Carnatic musician. By convention, the designated awardee presides over that year’s prestigious Music Conference and over the other concerts in December. This year, The Music Academy …

Continue reading ‘Sections of the Tamil Brahmin Community Protest Strongly against Controversial Singer T.M.Krishna Being the Recipient of the “Sangeetha Kalanidhi”Award from the Chennai Music Academy.’ »

By T. Farook Thajudeen Colombo High Court Judge Aditya Patabendige yesterday handed down a sentence of four years of rigorous imprisonment to Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera and a fine of Rs. 100,000 over a contentious statement made by him about Islam and Muslims in 2016. The Judge ordered an …

Continue reading ‘Gnanasara Thero Convicted for causing harm to national and religious harmony by making a threatening statement against the Kuragala Islamic religious site during a 2016 press briefing in Colombo. “Remarks during the press conference were intentional and malicious expressions of religious animosity”Concludes Court’ »

By Ranga Jayasuriya These days, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)/National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and top-level party stalwarts are busy receiving a beeline of foreign diplomats, who seem eager to know what is going through those elusive minds. That is an achievement for the party that languished on the sideline. Their luck …

Continue reading ‘Why are the Foreign Diplomats in Colombo Taking a great Interest in the JVP/NPP and Meeting with Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Other Leaders?’ »

By LAKMAL SOORIYAGODA Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galaboda Atte Gnanasara Thera was today sentenced to four-year-rigorous imprisonment for making a hate speech against the Islamic religion on Kuragala Temple. Colombo High Court Judge Adithya Patabendige further ordered Gnanasara Thera to pay a fine of Rs.100,000 for making hate speech on Kuragala Temple …

Continue reading ‘Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galaboda Atte Gnanasara Thera sentenced by Colombo High Court to four-year-rigorous imprisonment for making a hate speech against the Islamic religion’ »

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj This week’s Column is the second of a series of articles denoting the 20th anniversary of the revolt headed by former eastern tiger commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias “Karuna Ammaan” against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) hierarchy. Although the rebellion was crushed, its impact and consequences helped greatly to determine the course …

Continue reading ‘Tiger vs Tiger: How Prabhakaran’s Mainstream LTTE and Karuna’s Eastern Tigers Prepared for Fratricidal Conflict.’ »

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Whether the victims of October 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of dehumanisation, how do we resist?” Jonathan Glazer, director of The Zone of Interest (Oscar acceptance speech) The Pali Canon has the original tale but it’s the version in the commentaries we know. In both …

Continue reading ‘The growing public disenchantment with Israel, and the mounting protests, is forcing many American, British and European politicians to rethink their unconditional support for Israel’s genocidal war.’ »

By Jamila Husain President Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed his close associates and hinted to his cabinet that the Presidential Election will be held as scheduled, indicating Basil Rajapaksa’s failure in convincing the President to hold the Parliamentary Polls first, the Daily Mirror learns. A senior political source said that Wickremesinghe had in the past two …

Continue reading ‘Presidential Election to be held first in October First week. President Wickremesinghe Rejects Basii Rajapaksa Proposal to Hold Parliament Elections First. Ranil, Anura and Sajith in Triangular Tussle for Presidency’ »

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) organization fought the armed forces of Sri Lanka for 33 Years in pursuance of its political goal of establishing a separate state called Tamil Eelam in the Northern and Eastern provinces of the Island. The LTTE known generally as the tigers had the reputation of monolithic …

Continue reading ‘How and Why Eastern Tiger Commander “Col” Karuna Revolted Against the LTTE Leaders Prabhakaran 20 Years ago.’ »

By Meera Srinivasan A wind power project being executed by Adani Green Energy in northern Sri Lanka has run into controversy, with locals and environmentalists raising concern over its possible impact on the coastal region and livelihoods. In February last year, Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment cleared the company’s $ 442-million project at two wind …

Continue reading ‘Environmentalists and Mannar residents fear that the Adani wind energy project could spell danger to the biodiversity of the area and impact people’s livelihoods that are tied to the coastal environment.’ »

By Kishali Pinto- Jayawardene As familiar wrangling in Geneva takes place over the review of Sri Lanka by the United Nations Human Rights Council, there is an eminently sound argument to be made, (ad nauseam until the point is acknowledged) that the country’s many ineffective bodies on transitional justice established to meet ‘international scrutiny’ actually …

Continue reading ‘The West’s Double Standards and Hypocrisy is not a Justifiable reason for Sri Lanka to plead bland denial of its own responsibilities and indulge in patently superficial ‘transitional justice’ exercises. Has this charade not gone on long enough?’ »

By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “…The point I made about the Aragalaya being fundamentally, an anti-Sinhalese and anti-Buddhist enterprise from the beginning to the end” (Gotabaya Rajapaksa, THE CONSPIRACY, p 172) Dr. Colvin R. de Silva’s position on the executive presidency was slightly more nuanced than the flat denunciation by Dr. N.M. Perera. While criticising the 1978 …

Continue reading ‘Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Insidious. Book on the Alleged Conspiracy to Oust him is drenched in inflammatory racism and religious hatred. It qualifies as incitement.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Mountains have laboured and brought forth a mouse!. Former Sri Lankan President Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa has after many poya days reportedly authored a book. The political grapevine had been buzzing for several months that a book by the ex-president known popularly as Gota and Gotabaya was in progress. It was supposedly a …

Continue reading ‘Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Book “The Conspiracy” is a Banal Conspiracy Theory Repetition Without Substantive Proof to Bolster it.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The 105th birth anniversary of the man named Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar or M.N. Nambiar fell on 07 March 2024. The popular Tamil film actor excelled in playing the villain on screen. Nambiar was a terrible villain who could terrify people by merely grimacing and scowling. M.N. Nambiar was arguably the greatest screen villain …

Continue reading ‘M..N. Nambiar: Legendary “Villain” of Tamil Cinema who Terrified People by his Grimaces and Scowls.’ »

By Maneshka Borham Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M. A. Sumanthiran stood as the only Opposition member in attendance at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposals review meeting for opposition party leaders held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. Despite President Ranil Wickremesinghe extending invitations to the opposition including the main Opposition party, the Samagi Jana …

Continue reading ‘ITAK Jaffna Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran the only Opposition MP to Participate in IMF Proposals Review Meeting for Opposition Leaders; Raises Concerns Over Lack of Transparency and absence of published technical assistance reports from the IMF regarding several recommendations’ »

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (Mar 10) said the government has launched a revolution with relief for the people and these efforts will be intensified in the future despite challenges. The President emphasized that the current era and challenges faced by the country demands everyone to work in unity to rebuild the country sans narrow politics. …

Continue reading ‘United National Party members find themselves marginalized within the Samagi Jana Balawegaya states President Ranil Wickremesinghe at Kulliyapitiya Rally; appeals to former UNP members who joined the SJB to return to the UNP’ »

Sixty-nine Sri Lankan fishing boats are in Indian custody, Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has said during a recent televised interview.Hundreds of Indian boats arrive in Sri Lankan waters and use destructive bottom trawling techniques in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, the Minister said. “They have destroyed all marine resources in the Indian territorial …

Continue reading ‘“ Indian Fishermen have destroyed all marine resources in the Indian territorial waters using destructive bottom trawling techniques and they are doing the same in our waters also for a long time and things have gradually become worse. That is why our fishermen are protesting.” Says Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda’ »

By Nadine Yousif A Sri Lankan father who survived the mass murder of his family in Canada said he returned home from work on Wednesday to find his wife and four young children had been killed. Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, 34, was also attacked but managed to subdue the suspect. He is now recovering in hospital from …

Continue reading ‘34 Year old Dhanushka Wickramasinghe Returned Home From Work to Find his Wife, four Children and an acquaintance killed: 19 Year old Febrio de Zoysa a Sri Lankan Student at Algonquin College in Ottawa Charged in Courts as Suspect’ »

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam accused Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena of attempting to assault him in the Parliamentary complex yesterday. Raising a privilege issue in Parliament, MP Shanakiyan said that the incident occurred at the Prime Minister’s Office at the Parliamentary complex when he went to meet the Prime …

Continue reading ‘Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam Accuses Kalutara District MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena of attempting to Assault him Within Parliament at Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s Office; Says Attack on him was prevented by State Minister Ashoka Priyantha and Raises Privileges Issue’ »

By Ranga Jayasuriya Eighteen months back, when the people languished long hours in lengthy queues to buy that elusive gas cylinder and regular blackouts punctured the day and night amidst economic hardship, there was an unusual unity. Hundreds of thousands people who gathered at the Galle Face Green protest site and took part in many …

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka is part of the social, cultural and civilizational landscape of the Indian subcontinent. Sri Lanka could have become the window to India in the 80s and in the early 90s when New Delhi underwent liberalization.’ »

By Kishali Pinto -Jayawardene An exceedingly strange ‘logic’ underlines Governor of the Central Bank Nandalal Weerasinghe’s claim that bringing legislative controls to prevent the Central Bank granting gargantuan salary hikes to its employees from the highest level to the lowest office assistant, will impact on the ‘independence’ of the Bank. Morality or the law? This …

Continue reading ‘The Central Bank of Sri Lanka Increases the Already High salaries of Employees by 70 % across the Board while Preaching to the Suffering Public to Tighten their Belts and Pay Higher Taxes for the Country’s Benefit’ »

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The ascension of Junius Richard Jayewardene to the premier seat of poitical power in 1977 paved the way for a drastic transformation of Sri Lanka’s politico-economic landscape and environment. J.R. Jayewardene known popularly as “JR” ushered in political, economic and electoral changes that utterly changed Sri Lanka. In the words of William …

Continue reading ‘Ronnie De Mel the Socialist MP who Ushered in a Capitalist Economy as Finance Minister.’ »

By Joy SpearChief-Morris, Mark Colley, and Jennifer Pagliaro Police have charged a 19-year-old man with the murder of two adults and four children in an Ottawa-area townhouse Wednesday night, which police say is the largest murder in recent memory in the city. Febrio De-Zoysa is believed to be in Canada from Sri Lanka as a …

Continue reading ‘Two Adults and Four Children Brutally Murdered in Suburban Home in Ottawa,Canada. Another Hospitalised with Injuries. All victims of Sri Lankan Origin.Police Arrest 19 Year old Student from Sri Lanka as Lone Suspect’ »

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Are we so morally sick, so deaf and dumb and blind, that we do not understand this?” Ariel Dorfman (The Washington post – 24.9.2006) In 2023, bankrupt Sri Lanka added $ 16.6 billion to its central government debt, an increase of 21%. Sri Lanka ranks a high 43 in Global Militarisation Index …

Continue reading ‘The JVP, by organising ex-military as ex-military, seems to be making a great leap forward in militarising politics and – indirectly – politicising the military. Another Rubicon is being crossed, with predictable results’ »

By Meera Srinivasan Two years after his dramatic ouster from office by a popular people’s movement, Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has sought to defend his tainted regime, by launching a book that attributes his political downfall to a “conspiracy” involving foreign and local parties. Announcing his book ‘The Conspiracy to oust me from …

Continue reading ‘Ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Writes Book in which he Attributes his dramatic ouster in 2022 by a citizen’s uprising to a conspiracy hatched by ‘certain foreign and local parties’’ »

The name of a top Sri Lankan politician has emerged in the latest release of Pandora Papers two years after the first leak of financial secrets of shell companies in overseas tax shelters. The individual, a minister in President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s cabinet, has been identified as the beneficial owner of two such firms registered in …

Continue reading ‘Pandora Papers name Sri Lankan Public Security Minister Tiran Alles as the owner and director of Banham Ventures Limited and Brompton Properties registered in the British Virgin Islands Since July 2017’ »

By Krishantha Prasad Cooray Approximately 2,456km from Kuala Lumpur, where I now reside is Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka, my home country. Something happens in Colombo over three consecutive days in early March that tugs at my heartstrings. It’s a cricket game between two schools, Royal College, and St Thomas’ College. They are …

Continue reading ‘Reflections on the Royal-Thomian Match in Colombo from 2,456km away in Kuala Lumpur.’ »

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK)known in English as the Federal Party(FP) is in the eye of a legal storm. The premier political party representing the Sri Lankan Tamils of the Northern and Eastern provinces is currently undergoing an internal crisis mainly due to recently held inner-party elections. Issues relating to the intra-party …

Continue reading ‘Internally Divided ITAK in the Eye of a Legal Storm: Courts Restrain Newly Elected Party Officials From Functioning.’ »

By Satya Dissanayake The worst crisis Sri Lanka faced was in 2022, when it had to declare bankruptcy. A 30-year civil war, two insurrections, racial riots and a tsunami had not deterred this nation from repaying its loans on time. But one corrupt family and their cohorts had brought our country to its knees. Overnight, …

Continue reading ‘It is accepted today and proven beyond doubt that Ranil was the best man and the only man who could have pulled the country out of the abyss it had fallen into.’ »

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene It is perhaps one of the many painful ironies afflicting Sri Lanka’s political landscape that though an ecstatic song and dance was made about the country’s ‘first ever’ law regulating election expenditure passed by Parliament last year, no elections were held thereafter to practically ‘test’ its legal strength. Morbid fear of elections …

Continue reading ‘“There is great political inequality in India…this inequality is driven by money. As a result, people with deep pockets influence political decisions… Large Donors to Political Parties Influence Policy’’ »

Veteran journalist and columnist Lucien Rajakarunanayake passed away on February 29 at the age of 85. Late Mr Rajakarunanayake began his career in journalism as a reporter at the (former) Times of Ceylon and the Sunday Times from 1960 to 1971. He was a reporter, sub-editor, feature writer, and a lobby correspondent. He was a …

Continue reading ‘Veteran Journalist Lucien Rajakarunanayake Passes away at the age of 85; funeral in the Evening of Sunday March 3rd 2024 at the Borella Cemetery’ »

By Meera Srinivasan Three years after objecting to a Chinese energy projectin northern Sri Lanka, barely 50 km off Tamil Nadu, India is set to implement a hybrid power project in three islands off Jaffna peninsula with a $11-million grant. Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, the Government of Sri Lanka, and Indian company U-Solar Clean …

Continue reading ‘Three Years after Ousting China from Sri Lanka’s Northern Island Hybrid Energy Project, India Signs “Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems” Power Project for Neduntheevu,Nainatheevu and Analaitheevu i Islands in Northern Sri Lanka’ »

Lyca Group owned by Sri Lankan born Allirajah Subaskaran has gone to court against it being disqualified from bidding for the Government’s stakes in Sri Lanka Telecom and Lanka Hospital Corporation PLC. Lyca Group companies were among those figured during the Request for Qualification (RfQ) stage of these two SOE divestitures but were rejected for …

Continue reading ‘UK’s Lyca Group Owned by Lanka born Allirajah Subaskaran Goes to Appeal Court and gets enjoining order against being rejected by Cabinet Sub-committee from bidding for control of SL Telecom and Lanka Hospitals PLC’ »

By Arun Janardhanan T Suthendiraraja alias Santhan a Sri Lankan national who was one of the six convicts released in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, died on Wednesday morning at the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital (RGGH) in Chennai. Santhan, who was released by the Supreme Court in November 2022, was kept at the special camp …

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan National T.Suthendirarajah alias “Santhan” passes away on 28 Feb at the Rajiv Gandhi Govt Hospital in Chennai; 55 year old Santhan convicted over former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi’s Assassination by the LTTE was released in 2022 after decades of imprisonment’ »

By Mark Salter “This seems familiar” was the response of many Sri Lankans to the Israeli military action in Gaza initiated in the wake of the appalling 7 October Hamas attack. While every conflict is different, there were – and are – features of the Gazan conflagration that resonate strongly with the final stages of …

Continue reading ‘As in Sri Lanka then and in Gaza now y, is the international community unable – or simply unwilling – to intervene to prevent large-scale civilian suffering in the manner envisaged by Right to Protect (R2P)?’ »

By Arjuna Ranawana They lie buried in numerous mass graves, all evidence of Sri Lanka’s murderous recent past which has been punctuated by multiple civil conflicts. Whatever remains is evidence of Sri Lanka’s grisly history of the extrajudicial executions of rebels in both Northern and Southern insurrections. Most of the bodies remain in mass graves …

Continue reading ‘Relatives of victims of Sri Lanka’s Grisly Violence Unlikely to find closure until justice is served and those whose hands are bloodstained are held accountable for their actions.’ »

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene As much as lawyers, activists and civic conscious citizens, South Asia’s judges seem to be fighting with their backs proverbially against the wall in these extraordinarily fraught times. Concerns on judicial independence across South Asia At a forum of constitutional lawyers in Katmandu last week, a Nepali legal practitioner confessed deep standing …

Continue reading ‘Disregarding Court ruling on Bills has ominous consequences given that the Sri Lankan judiciary lacks the power to review enacted law.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Marie Catherine Colvin, the respected war correspondent of Britain’s “Sunday Times” was targeted and killed on February 22, 2012 by Syrian forces as she reported on the suffering of civilians in Homs,Syria. At the time of her death, Marie Colvin was reporting from the Baba Amr Media Centre, a makeshift broadcast studio run …

Continue reading ‘Marie Colvin : Intrepid War Correspondent who Lost her Eye in Northern Sri Lanka.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Jeyaraj’s Jottings The Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK) known in English as the Federal Party(FP) recently elected a new President and other key office bearers for a two year term from 2024 to 2026. However in an unexpected twist of fate the new President Sivagnamam Shritharan as well as other newly elected party officials …

Continue reading ‘Enjoining Orders Issued by Trincomalee Courts Restrain Newly Elected ITAK President Sivagnanam Shritharan and Other Office Bearers from Functioning in their Party Posts.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Jeyaraj’s Jottings Today (Feb 24) is the Birthday of yesteryear Actress and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalaithaa Jayaram. If she were among the living, the alluring actress- powerful poitico would have celebrated her 76th birthday today. She passed away eight years ago at the age of 68 in 2016. Jayalalithaa was born …

Continue reading ‘Though Branded Wrongly as a Kannadiga, Actress Turned Politician Jayalaithaa was a Tamil Brahmin who was Proud of her Ethnicity’ »

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Today (Feb 17) is the birthday of Sri Lanka’s popular business magnate Philip Upali Wijewardene. If Upali Wijewardene were among the living now, he would have celebrated his 86th birthday this year. Alas, this was not to be as the Lear Jet he was travelling in disappeared on 13 February 1983 just …

Continue reading ‘Memories of Interacting with Upali Wijewardene as a Journalist.’ »

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “…it is not the elimination of racialism or nationalism that we want in this world today; it is the harmonisation of nationalism and racialism for future progress.” Speech during the debate of The Citizenship Act The news barely made the news. Defence secretary (retired) General Kamal Gunaratne and Army Commander General Vikum …

Continue reading ‘In a development unprecedented in Sri Lankan politics, both electoral front runners the JVP and SJB are going out of their way to woo the most Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist institutions in the country.’ »

By Meera Srinivasan India and Sri Lanka are set to take ongoing discussions on the Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) forward, with the next two rounds of bilateral talks scheduled later this month and in March. The progress in negotiations is significant for New Delhi and Colombo, as the much-discussed pact was stalled in …

Continue reading ‘India and Sri Lanka Revive Negotiations on the Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement(ETCA) Between Both Countries;Two Rounds of Bi-lateral Talks Scheduled for Feb and March’ »

(Text of Press Release Issued on 18 Feb 2024 by the High Commission of India in Colombo about the Visit of the Indian High Commissioner to the Northern Province of Sri Lanka) !.High Commissioner of India, H.E Santosh Jha undertook his first official visit to Northern Province from 15-17 February 2024. Diverse engagements during the …

Continue reading ‘New Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha Makes First Official Visit to Northern Province to reiterate India’s unwavering commitment to the people of the region and Deepen socio-economic and cultural ties with the Province’ »

(Text of Press Release Issued on 19 Feb 2024 by the High Commission of India in Colombo about the Launch of construction of 1300 houses under Indian Housing Project in 45 Estates across 10 Districts of Sri Lanka) !. His Excellency Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India joined President of Sri Lanka, His Excellency Ranil …

Continue reading ‘Construction of 1300 houses built under Phase-IV of Indian Housing Project (IHP) in 45 plantation estates across 10 Districts of Sri Lanka Virtually Launched on 19 Feb 2024 by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian Envoy Santosh Jha’ »

By W.A. Wijewardena Former World Bank senior economist and novelist, Sriyani Hulugalle, has published her latest novelette in Sinhala under the title ‘Shadows of Hantana’, a story she had penned when she was at the University of Peradeniya in the 1970s. This is her third published creative work, the previous two being ‘Beyond the Rainbow’ …

Continue reading ‘Sriyani Hulugalle’s Novelette ‘Shadows of Hantana’: A romantic experience for readers’ »

The Mawbima Janatha Party (MJP) and its presidential hopeful Dilith Jayaweera on Saturday at the Colombo District Summit, revealed plans to soon launch an ambitious action plan aimed at transforming Sri Lanka›s socio-economic fabric. This announcement came during a significant gathering at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, which saw an impressive turnout of nearly …

Continue reading ‘Mawbima Janatha Party Leader and Presidential aspirant Dility Jayaweera Addresses Party’s Colombo District Summit and Unveils Plan for a “New Era of Transformation and Prosperity”’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Distinguished Emeritus Professor and Eminent Author and Poet Yasmine Gooneratne passed away on Thursday February 15th 2024.She was 88. After schooling at Bishops College , Colombo Yasmine went on to graduate from the University of Ceylon at Peradeniya. Thereafter she received a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University,UK. Yasmine Gooneratne relocated to …

Continue reading ‘Distinguished Emeritus Professor and Eminent Author and Poet Yasmine Gooneratne passes away on Thursday February 15th 2024 at the age of 88.’ »

Tamil National Alliance Opposition Parliamentarian, President’s Counsel (PC) M.A. Sumanthiran has filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition in the Supreme Court (SC) against Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana and Attorney General (AG) Sanjay Rajaratnam PC, respectively, over the Speaker’s purported certification of the Online Safety Bill (OSB) and the AG’s alleged wrongful and …

Continue reading ‘Jaffna District Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran PC Challenges Online Safety Bill’s Purported Enactment by Filing FR Petition in SC against Speaker and A-G for Alleged Breach of Trust’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj What do Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dinesh Gunawardena and Anura Bandaranaike have in common? They were born a year after independence in 1949 and were classmates together at Royal Colege, Colombo. All three were from illustrious families involved in politics and went on to be brightly shining stars in the Island nation’s political firmament. Anura …

Continue reading ‘Anura Bandaranaike: “Always the bride’s maid, never the bride”’ »

BY D.B.S. Jeyaraj “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry, ”penned the Scottish bard Robert Burns in his poem”to a mouse”. This truth was brought home in an explosive manner to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) 37 years ago when a massive explosion rocked the Kaithady area in the Thenmaratchi …

Continue reading ‘The Bowser Explosion in Kaithady that Rocked the LTTE on Valentine’s day.; 43 Killed 51 Injured.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj 41 years ago on February 13, 1983, a privately owned Lear jet flew out of Malaysia’s Subang Airport at 8.41 p.m. with six on board. It was expected to reach Colombo by 9.45 p.m. that night. 15 minutes after taking off, the plane lost radio contact with the airport. The final message received …

Continue reading ‘Upali Wijewardene: Lanka’s Beloved Home Grown Business Tycoon with the Golden Touch in Commercial Pursuits.’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The heading of this article is inspired by the title of Milan Kundera’s novel “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”. That novel was set in the eventful Prague spring period of the then undivided Czechoslovakia. This article is about an octogenarian Tamil political leader who tries to cling on to power selfishly without stepping …

Continue reading ‘The Unbearable Selfishness of Being “Maavai” Senathirajah: Clings on to Power for 10 Years as ITAK Party President.’ »

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene The Sri Lankan Government can ill afford to take the moral high ground and object to the Opposition calling the Online Safety Act, No 9 of 2024 as ‘erroneous’ when it has become amply clear that the Act has disregarded the Supreme Court’s imperative revisions as detailed in (SD) No 66-120/2023. Was …

Continue reading ‘The Minister of Justice cannot merely admit to ‘shortcomings’ in the Online Safety Act on the “devious” basis that all laws have shortcomings and that the Govt is ‘open’ to considering amendments’ »

டி.பி.எஸ்.ஜெயராஜ் கடந்த பத்து வருடங்களாக இலங்கை தமிழரசு கட்சியின் தலைவர் பதவியை வகித்துவந்த மாவை சேனாதிராஜா ஜனவரி 21 திருகோணமலை நகர மண்டபத்தில் கட்சியின் பொதுச்சபை உறுப்பினர்கள் மத்தியில் நடத்தப்பட்ட இரகசிய வாக்கெடுப்பில் யாழ்ப்பாண மாவட்ட பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சிவஞானம் சிறிதரன் புதிய தலைவராக தெரிவுசெய்யப்பட்ட பின்னரும் நிலைவரம் எல்லாம் ஏதோ பழைய மாதிரியே இருப்பது போன்ற நினைப்பில் இருக்கிறார். கௌரவமான முறையில் பதவியில் இருந்து இறங்காமல் அவர் தொடர்ந்தும் தொங்கிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார். தமிழரசு கட்சி 2022 ஆம் …

Continue reading ‘மாவை சேனாதிராஜாவின் பொறுத்துக்கொள்ளமுடியாத சுயநலம்’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Sri Lanka known formerly as Ceylon gained independence from British rule on 4 February 1948. The Island nation celebrates the 76th anniversary of her “tryst with destiny” on Sunday. Events marking freedom day festivity are scheduled for the week-end. Even as the greater part of the Island is enveloped in a melodious mood, …

Continue reading ‘Jaffna Youth Congress was the First to Demand “Poorana Swaraj”( Complete Self-Rule) For Ceylon/SriLanka From Britain.’ »

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “No spectators at chasm’s door…” – Mahmoud Darwish (I have a seat in the abandoned theatre) Sri Lankans are a notoriously impulsive people, quick to violence and to generosity. In times of public disaster, if left un-manipulated, the generous impulse is likely to dominate. Deeply divided racial and religious communities coming together …

Continue reading ‘Despite surface differences, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake both seem like economic ingénues with no clear notion of how to deal with a 21st century economy.’ »

By Meera Srinivasan If anyone visiting Sri Lanka’s Galle city this January needed a reality check on the extent of the island’s recovery after its crippling 2022 crisis, the thaembili [king coconut] offered it. The popular thirst quencher that would have cost a few dozens of rupees a couple of years ago, is now priced …

Continue reading ‘Galle Literary Festival Resumes after a four-year break; Sri Lanka’s popular literary festival signalled an openness in spotlighting sensitive issues of the day.’ »

By Karthick Ram Manoharan (Karthick Ram Manoharan is Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at the National Law School of India University. He is the author of Periyar: A Study in Political Atheism). Irrespective of whether one believes in the god Ram or not, the formal consecration of the Ram temple on January 22, 2024, marked …

Continue reading ‘Dravidian Politics Rooted in Non-Brahminism, Equality, Social Justice, Federalism and Tamil Assertion Offers Resistance to the Exclusionary Politics of Hindutva in Tamil Nadu’ »

சமுத்திரன் ( சண்முகதாசனின் 31 வது நினைவு தினம் இன்றாகும் (8 -2 2024). அதை முன்னிட்டு இந்த கட்டுரை பிரசுரமாகிறது) ‘ பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் எனது இரண்டாவது ஆண்டு ,1939 — 40, எனது முழு வாழ்க்கையினதும் திசையை மாற்றிய அந்த ஆண்டில் நான் ஒரு கம்யூனிஸ்ட் ஆகினேன். அதன் பின்னர் நான் அதனின்று வழுவவேயில்லை.’ இந்த வார்த்தைகளுடன் ஆரம்பிக்கிறார் சண்முகதாசன் தனது அரசியல் நினைவுகள் பற்றிய நூலை. அரசியலில் ஐம்பது ஆண்டுகளை நிறைவு செய்த சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் …

Continue reading ‘என். சண்முகதாசன : சமரசம் செய்யாத ஒரு கம்யூனிசவாதியின் அரசியல் வாழ்வு’ »

By Meera Srinivasan Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of Sri Lanka’s leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People’s Liberation Front), who is currently visiting India on New Delhi’s invitation, on Monday met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, in an indication of the Union government’s high-level engagement with the 55-year-old …

Continue reading ‘JVP Delegation led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake has “Good” Discussions with Indian National Security adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister Dr.S.Jaishankarr on “ regional security, Economic Challenges and bilateral issues concerning India and Sri Lanka,”;’ »

By Meera Srinivasan The Indian government has invited a delegation led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of Sri Lanka’s leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People’s Liberation Front), to New Delhi, in a significant outreach to the island nation’s most popular politician at the moment. “We leave tomorrow [Monday] morning and will be there for …

Continue reading ‘India Extends Official Invitation to JVP for the First Time; JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake to head Party Delegation on 5 Day Visit to New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram’ »

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Today (Jan 31) is the birthday of eminent constitutional lawyer, academic and politician Dr. Neelakandan Tiruchelvam. Neelan as he was popularly known would have completed eighty years , had he been among the living today. Born on January 31, 1944, Neelan Tiruchelvam was brutally assassinated 25 years ago by the Liberation Tigers of …

Continue reading ‘Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam: Foremost Intellectual was the Brightest Star In Tamil Political Firmament.’ »

By Kishali Pinto- Jayawardene Amidst furore over the long delayed arrest of Sri Lanka’s former Health (and currently Environment) Minister implicated with his senior officials in the scandalous procurement of substandard human immunoglobulin, the certification of the Online Safety Act, No 9 of 2024 by the Speaker this Thursday plunges the country into new and …

Continue reading ‘The certification of the Online Safety Act, No 9 of 2024 by the Speaker this Thursday plunges the country into new and dangerously untried depths of state repression.’ »

வீரகத்தி தனபாலசிங்கம் தேசிய இனப்பிரச்சினைக்கு அரசியல் இணக்கத்தீர்வைக் காணும் முயற்சிகளிலும் வடக்கு,கிழக்கில் எதிர்நோக்கப்படும் பல்வேறு மனிதாபிமானப் பிரச்சினைகளுக்கு தீர்வைக் காணும் முயற்சிகளிலும் தமிழ் அரசியல் கட்சிகள் ஐக்கியப்பட்டு ஒருமித்த அணுகுமுறையைக் கடைப்பிடிக்கவேண்டும் என்பதே தமிழ் மக்களினதும் அவர்களின் நலன்களில் அக்கறைகொண்ட சிவில் சமூகம் மற்றும் அவதானிகளினதும் இடையறாத வேண்டுகோளாக இருந்து வருகிறது. ஆனால், தமிழ்க் கட்சிகளின் தலைவர்கள் அது குறித்து அக்கறை காட்டக்கூடிய மனநிலையில் இல்லை. ஏற்கனவே இருபது வருடங்களுக்கும் அதிகமான காலமாக பல்வேறு மாச்சரியங்களுக்கு மத்தியிலும் …

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By Shipa Nair Tamil actor Thalapathy Vijay on Friday announced the formation of political party, ‘Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam,’ stating his commitment to “fundamental political change” with transparent, caste-free, and corruption-free administration. The actor made the big announcement after his fan club, Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, gave a nod to the formation of the political party in …

Continue reading ‘Tamil Film actor Vijay announces Launch of political party named ‘Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’ (Tamil Nadu Victory Association); Party to Contest 2026 Tamil Nadu State Election’ »

By Meera Srinivasan ( 55 th Death Anniversary of CN Annadurai on 3 Feb 2024) Former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai may have been instrumental in shaping the course of Tamil Nadu’s political history. But his artistic and literary persona played a major role in his achieving the rare iconic status he enjoyed. His contributions as …

Continue reading ‘Tamil Nadu’s First DMK Chief Minister CN Annadurai known as “Anna” made very significant contributions to Tamil theatre, cinema, and literature.’ »