By K. Ratnayake The Obama administration has declared that it will present a third consecutive resolution on Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting in March, calling for a probe into human rights violations. The focus will be on abuses during the final months of the Sri Lankan government’s war against the …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s war crimes and the US “human rights” charade’ »
The North Indian media holds some strong prejudices about Tamil society. It has no real insight into the Tamil psyche, but always exults in its ignorance, unwilling to learn, but quick to pass its flawed judgments on every issue concerning the Tamils. Be it the political, social or cultural preference of Tamils, the majority sentiment …
By Wasantha Rupasinghe A photo story was published earlier this month on the Sri Lankan army web site depicting a training exercise in which troops and police suppressed a student demonstration. The exercise was held at the Security Forces Head Quarters in Vanni, in the war ravaged north, and led by Major General Boniface Perera …
Human Rights Council Twenty-fifth session Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights* Summary In the …
By S.L.Gunasekara What is it that drives a politician? The answer is as simple as it is tragic. It is the love, and an unquenchable thirst, for power. What should be the reason for any politician or other person seeking power? That answer too is simple. It is to benefit the Country. To put the …
Continue reading ‘What is it that Drives a Politician?An Unquenchable Thirst and Love for Power!’ »
By Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan Today there is much talk of the South African example in conflict resolution and advice is being sought from that country. Hence it is not inappropriate to draw analogies between what is happening in Wanathamulle, Colombo and the similar situation which arose in Sophia town, Johannesburg during the Apartheid era in …
By Jeff Waters Human rights and asylum seeker advocates are condemning a decision to employ a former Sri Lankan military officer as the acting operations manager of the Manus Island detention centre. The ABC has confirmed that Dinesh Perera has been running the offshore processing centre (OPC) for the G4S security company.
by B.Kolappan As part of their effort to mobilise public opinion in favour of the US resolution against Sri Lanka and for urging India to move a resolution seeking an independent inquiry into the war crimes in the last moments of civil war, Youths and Students Federation screened Callum Macrae’s film, No Fire Zone: The …
By B.Kolappan The University of Madras has removed from its curriculum two short stories written by Pudumaipithan, considered as the father of the modern Tamil short story. Thunbakkeni, prescribed for undergraduate courses, had been removed two months ago, and on Saturday, the Academic Council approved the removal of another story, Ponnagaram. Thunbakkeni was removed on …
Well known Tamil writer and Jnanpith awardee D. Jayakanthan has been admitted to a private hospital in Chennai, where his condition was said to be serious, sources said. The 80-year old writer has not been keeping well since the last few months, they said. Known for his work ‘Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal’ among others, Mr. …
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by Anita Joshua The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has refused a censor certificate to the controversial film No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, a documentary on the last phase of the war between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE in early 2009. The documentary that has been in public domain …
Sri Lanka can’t win in any international arena through a foreign policy strategy that is dictated by the Defence Ministry, a situation that would never have occured when the late Lakshman Kadirgamar was foreign minister, a former Sri Lanka diplomat and political scientist said. “Lakshman Kadirgamar would never have allowed such a situation to happen,” …
An Interview With Chamitha Kuruppu “Gotabaya Rajapaksa is my hero. He made the biggest contribution towards winning the war and without him we would not have realised that dream,” said Udaya Gammanpila, UPFA candidate for the Western Province. Gammanpila, who came under heavy criticism for inviting the Defence Secretary as the Chief Guest at his …
Continue reading ‘“Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a Living Hero to me” Declares Udaya Gammanpila’ »
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan Controversial Channel4 film director, Callum Macrae, yesterday told Ceylon Today that the ban imposed on his film, preventing it from screening in India, is an act of overt political censorship.The updated version of the original documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, which has some recent events, including …
A hunt is on for three students attending a school in Puttalam for allegedly writing a letter that said a bomb threat on President Mahinda Rajapaksa had been planned, a senior police official said. He said the letter stated that the bomb would be detonated inside the school premises today where the President was due …
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan A Sri Lankan Government delegation, which was visiting South Africa from 20 to 22 February, to study the South African reconciliation process had not received a formal invitation from their South African counterparts, sources said. However, when Ceylon Today contacted South Africa’s Deputy Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Ebrahim Ismail …
By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London Pro-LTTE Tamils in the UK are pushing for a travel ban and the freezing of assets of Sri Lankan government politicians. If they succeed, Sri Lankan parliamentarians may not be able to travel to the UK and perhaps, even to Europe. This development has emerged in the backdrop of President …
by Vishnuguptha “History is filled with tragic examples of wars that result from diplomatic impasse. Whether in our local communities or in international relations, the skillful use of our communicative capacities to negotiate and resolve differences is the first evidence of human wisdom.” ~Daisaku Ikeda Never has an international organization or the United Nations, International …
By Niranjala Ariyawansha Sons of two leading government ministers were directly involved in the clearance of two containers, in the past two weeks, that possibly contained narcotics, weapons and ethanol, a leading Buddhist monk charged yesterday. Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera, Leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), told Ceylon Today that the government has …
By Ajith Alahakoon Director General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Anusha Pelpita yesterday said that he could shut down Facebook in Sri Lanka if the government took a policy decision to that effect.
by Chitra Weerarathne The Supreme Court in a judgment delivered yesterday (21) said that the Court of Appeal possessed no jurisdiction in terms of Article 140 of the constitution to review a report of a Select Committee of Parliament constituted in terms of Article 107(3) of the Constitution read with order 87A (2) of the …
By Shamindra Ferdinando The government has alleged that the US was making an attempt to justify allegations propagated by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that Sinhala families were being settled in the Northern Province in a bid to change the demographic pattern in the region. Authoritative sources told The Island that US diplomat Michael A. …
by N Sathiya Moorthy Reports that ‘friends of Sri Lanka’ at the UNHRC could move a ‘friendly resolution’ to contest and compete with the harsher one promised by the US, the UK and the rest of the West could complicate matters for India. Considering that India was among the prime-movers of a similar resolution less …
Stating that any move to release former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s killers would be “illegal”, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said that President’s rule should be imposed in Tamil Nadu if Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa did not “desist” from proceeding with the decision. “I demand that the Centre issue a direction under Article …
(Text of Editorial Appearing under the heading “The Politics of Remission” in “The Hindu”of February 21st 2014. Commutation of a death sentence to life imprisonment could be seen as an act of compassion, but a straight leap from capital punishment to wholesale release as has been proposed by the Tamil Nadu government in the case …
by Meera Srinivasan The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) has asked the governments of Sri Lanka and India to take steps to introduce direct flights from Palali and Trincomalee to India for the benefit of Tamils living in the north and east of the island nation. However, a day after news of the resolution, passed at …
Restraining the Tamil Nadu government from releasing seven prisoners who were convicted for assasinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the apex court on Thursday directed the state to maintain status quo on the issue. There have been procedural lapses by the TN govt in its decision to release seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, …
BY K. T. Sangameswaran& S. Vijaykumar Where will the four Sri Lankans – Murugan, Santhan, Jayakumar and Robert Payas – life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, go in the event of their release? This question is being discussed in legal circles in the wake of the State government’s announcement that the Cabinet had …
By S. Vijay Kumar, P. V. V. Murthi& R. Arivanantham It was an emotional get-together of family members with Perarivalan and Murugan, whose death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, at the Vellore Central Jail on Tuesday.
AAP leader Kumar Vishwas on Thursday slammed Rahul Gandhi for his remark that his father Rajiv Gandhi was being denied justice, saying it was a “drama” to divert people’s attention from core issues like corruption. “Congress is in power since the past ten years at the centre and Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are running …
by Omar Rashid “If the killers of the former Prime Minister of this country are being released, what kind of justice should the common man expect,” asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday after the Jayalalithaa government decided to release the seven persons convicted of killing Rajiv Gandhi. Expressing grief over the development, which took …
Supreme Court has agreed to hear Centre’s plea against Tamil Nadu govt’s decision to release all the seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Centre has pleaded that the convicts should not be released during pendency of its review petition on commutation of death sentence. The apex court has agreed to give an urgent hearing …
by B. Kolappan (With additional reporting by S. Vijay Kumar) In 1991, the AIADMK won a massive mandate after the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, benefiting from the sympathy wave for the Congress with which it was in alliance. Twenty three years later, and ahead of yet another general election, party leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister …
By Vishnuguptha “He who cannot put his thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of dispute.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche Ever since the cessation of the armed conflict between Sri Lankan security forces and the Tamil militants led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), the Tamil constituency in the North and East has …
BY S VENKAT NARAYAN NEW DELHI, February 19: Twenty-three years after they were jailed, the Tamil Nadu Government headed by Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalitha today decided to set free within three days all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case after the Indian Supreme Court commuted the death penalty of three of them …
By M. Sooriasegaran (Engineer) The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), recognizing that access to safe drinking water is a basic right of every citizen, is committed to the provision of adequate, safe drinking water to the entire population at an affordable cost and in an equitable, efficient and sustainable manner. In accordance with this policy, …
By Chitra Weerarathne The Permanent Commission to Inquire into allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) yesterday handed over a charge sheet to impeached Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, before the Chief Magistrate of Colombo Gihan Pilapitiya.
By Dharisha Bastians In a strange irony, the first major controversy of this season’s provincial polls campaign erupted on the stage of the self-professed ‘Mr. Clean’ contesting on the ruling party ticket. Since his days as Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority and throughout his career as a provincial councillor, the Jathika Hela Urumaya’s Udaya …
Continue reading ‘Udaya Gammanpila,Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the “Contradiction”Over Casinos’ »
By Madura Ranwala The Colombo Fort Magistrate remanded, till February 21, Ven. Damdeniye Dhammananda Thera arrested by the police on Tuesday evening for attempted self-immolation and breach of peace. Senior Superintendent of Police Ajith Rohana told The Island that the Buddhist monk, a member of Sihala Ravaya, which launched a protest in front of the …
(Text of Address by Sri Lanka’s Head of Mission to the European Union, Ambassador Pakeer Amza at the meeting of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the Countries in the South Asia (DSAS) on 19 February 2014 in Brussels) Madam Chair, Hon. Members of the Parliament,Distinguished Colleagues, Engaging with this Parliament and especially with …
By B.Kolappan The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said it had decided to release all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, including the three prisoners whose death penalty was reduced to life term by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. (clockwise from top) Nalini, Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan. The Tamil Nadu Government on …
By Saman Indrajith UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday that the government was planning to reclaim land along the coastal areas in Colombo and Gamapha districts to build a formula car race track.
South Africa has appointed a Special Envoy to help Sri Lanka in the reconciliation process. The appointment of Cyril Ramphosa, Vice President of the African National Congress (ANC) as SA’s Special Envoy was announced by SA President Jacob Zuma in his 6th State of the Nation address last week. In the wake of the announcement, …
by S Venkat Narayan NEW DELHI, February 18: India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday granted relief to Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan—-the three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case by commuting their death sentence into life term on the grounds of inordinate delay in disposal of their mercy petitions by the country’s President. Murugan and Santhan …
By Saman Indrajith JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament yesterday that land acquired after demolishing houses and business places in Colombo had not been done under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. Making a special statement MP Dissanayake said people were being evicted and their houses and business places demolished in …
Topic: The Status of Violence Against Women, Laws in Place and Campaigns Carried Out to Create Awareness in Sri Lanka Presenter: Dushiyanthini Pillai, award winning journalist and photo journalist from Sri Lanka About the Session: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 4:00-5:30 p.m. Venue: Carr Center Conference Room (R-219) Rubenstein Building, second floor Suggested Readings: “Prevention of …
By Smriti Daniel There is a time in the wake of her great rage – after she has torn her left breast out, after she has called fire down on the city of Madurai – when a widowed Kannaki finds a moment of quiet by the banks of a river. Across from her boys are …
by N Sathiya Moorthy Tamil Nadu’s hosting of the much-publicised and even more needed/delayed talks between the State’s fisher representatives and their Sri Lankan counterparts on 27 January, followed by the local fishers commitment not to deploy vessels, gears and fishing methods banned in Sri Lanka for 30 days to prove their sincerity and seriousness …
(Full Text of an Interview by the UNP Mayor of Colombo AJM Muzammil appearing in the “Ceylon Today”) Q: Why do you think the UNP denied nominations to your wife, Feroza? A: I’m really surprised as to why the UNP rejected her nomination. The National Nomination Committee and the Party National Leader should have had …
By Premalal Wijeratne Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, said Sri Lanka will fully implement the system adopted by the USA and India, to track down overstaying foreigners and deport them immediately. Speaking in this regard yesterday, the Defence Secretary said, all hotels, lodgings, holiday resorts and other places where foreign tourists stay, have been directed to …
By Meera Srinivasan It has been almost two decades since S. Koteeswaran lost his right leg when the Nalavy St. Peter’s Church in Jaffna was bombed allegedly by the Sri Lankan Air Force. About 125 civilians were killed. Getting by with a prosthetic leg fitted a few years later, the 47-year-old fisherman says he is …
A damning 20-page report from United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay became the subject of close scrutiny by the UPFA Government this week. Pillay’s office urged the Government, as is the practice, to respond to the contents of this 74-point report — the precursor to the United States backed latest resolution on Sri …
By Steve A. Morrell Raj Seneviratne’s hit song ‘Sili Sili’ in Sinhala, was literally top of the tunes a long time. Radio stations in most Colombo locations featured this song on their request programmes. More to the point, ‘Sili Sili’, was requested. Very often. Sometimes you’d listen to it daily. Take the SLBC for instance, …
by Vishnuguptha “One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.” ~Voltaire Weavers, weaving at break of day, Why do you weave a garment so gay? . . . Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild, We weave the robes of a new-born child. How relevant …
Continue reading ‘“Sannaliyane, Sannaliyane”… Weavers’ Song…a song for the ages’ »
A lesser known fact about Minister Weerawansa’s actions boomeranging on the Government surfaced this week. During the visit to Colombo by US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes issues, Stephen J. Rapp, the US Embassy had offered to keep his engagements on a “low key” with little or no publicity. This assurance ended when Weerawansa …
Continue reading ‘Cabinet Minister Wimal Weeraansa’s Antics Boomerang on Rajapaksa Regime’ »
By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera In my childhood, I was fortunate to see Vijaya Kumaranatunga frequently. A lifelong friend of my father Ossie, Vijaya frequently came to our home. At such occasions, hundreds of people flocked around to catch a glimpse of their hero. Some of them came to see Vijaya, the politician. But, many (including those …
by Sunil Jayasiri Amidst proposed moves by the US Congress and the US government to bring in a resolution against Sri Lanka at the upcoming UNHRC sessions, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga said ‘the most significant factor when it comes to the power of lobbying, solely depends on the choice of lobbying groups one has access …
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has reiterated its position that it wanted a solution through a federal model, contradicting Northern Province Chief Minister, C.V. Wigneswaran’s statements that Tamils should not expect 100% power sharing. Wigneswaran speaking at National Conference on ‘Post-war Socio-economic Development of the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka’ organized by the …
By Shamindra Ferdinando One time UN Assistant Secretary General Denis J. Halliday is now in Canada to convince major political parties to support US-UK call for an international war crimes investigation targeting Sri Lanka at the forthcoming 25th session of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council. Well informed sources told The Island that Halliday …
Dharisha Bastians reporting from New Delhi Veering away from taking a committed position on a third US backed resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council next month India yesterday renewed its call for Sri Lanka to go beyond the provisions of the 13th Amendment and a resumption of talks between the Government …
FULL TEXT OF STATEMENT ISSUED BY UNITED NATIONAL PARTY UNDER THE HEADING “THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY NEED NOT PAY FOR THE ACTIONS OF A FEW POLITICIANS Sri Lanka is at a precipice and the Rajapaksa administration bears full responsibility for our country’s current plight. After years of insisting that the Sri Lankan government carryout …
Interview with Indian Peacekeeping Forces Intelligence Corps Chief Col. R. Hariharan (RH) Interviewer: Parasaran Rangarajan, Editor, International Law Journal of London(PR) PR: First, we would like to thank you for joining us. I understand you spent nearly three decades in the Indian Armed Forces and salute you for that and would like to ask how …
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Actor Kamal Haasan’s tribute to Filmmaker Balu Mahendra In a village full of wise men, an educated man is more useful. Balu Mahendra was that educated man. Not that we didn’t have cinema knowledge, but it was a new medium, and people were trying to superimpose their previously acquired knowledge of theatre and literature on …
by Baradwaj Rangan Balu Mahendra, who died on Thursday of cardiac arrest, was one of the handful of filmmakers who, in the 1970s, changed the face of Tamil cinema. He was also one of the handful who could be termed an auteur. Every film he made was distinctly his. Part of this was, of course, …
Continue reading ‘Balu Mahendra was a Filmmaker who Changed the Face of Tamil Cinema.’ »
By B. Kolappan & Karthik Subramanian Award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer Balu Mahendra’s masterpieces — ‘Azhiyatha Kolangal’, ‘Moondram Pirai’, ‘Veedu’, ‘Sandya Ragam’ and ‘Vanna Vanna Pookal’ — left an indelible mark on the Indian film industry. The 75-year-old master craftsman passed away in the city on Thursday. He had been admitted to Vijaya Hospital with chest …
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By Ananth Palakidnar Northern Provincial Councillor, Ananthy Sasitharan, who arrived in Geneva on Wednesday, began to engage in discussions with officials of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) yesterday. Ananthy’s travel plans were kept under wraps until her departure from Colombo on Wednesday (12), following the anonymous calls she had received asking her to …
by Palitha Pelpola ”A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” ~ Tenneva Jordan Many eulogies have been dedicated to mothers of our time. Since the dawn of time, no more words have been spoken, no more essays …
By Aisha Nazim The National Shoora Council (NSC) comprising prominent Muslims and religious organizations, has expressed dismay at the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, directing the Divisional Secretary, Dehiwala, and the police, to close down a mosque in Dehiwala, despite the Divisional Secretary having no authority to do so. “Some foreign governments have …
China and Sri Lanka could sign a free trade agreement by the end of the year, state news agency Xinhua cited Sri Lanka’s foreign minister as saying. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris, who is on a four-day visit to China, said “the feasibility study is on the verge of completion”. Peiris told Xinhua in …
by Vishnuguptha “The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.” ~Albert Camus Heroes are born every minute. Events can give birth to victims too, every second. A very few, in fact a handful in all history, do have the real DNA of a real hero. History also bears testimony …
Continue reading ‘Rescuing ‘Mother Lanka’ from LTTE i s no excuse for Government to violate her!’ »
(The Collective of the Families of the Disappeared Persons,has in a letter to the Presidential Commission to Inquire into Complaints Regarding Missiong Persons raised concerns about the recently conducted sittings by the commission in Kilinochchi. The full text of the letter is reproduced below) The Secretary, Presidential Commission to Inquire into the Complaints regarding Missing …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has lamented that money sent by Tamil Diaspora has had a devastating impact on the lifestyles of Tamils here. The retired Supreme Court judge is of the view that foreign funds have caused irreparable damage to society, especially the student community. CM Wigneswaran was addressing a gathering …
By S.L.Gunasekara The ‘Productivity’ of the so called ‘war’ has not ended. At first the so called ‘war’ spawned a breed of carpet baggers known as `conflict resolutionists’ who made a literal ‘killing’ off the war. They were closely accompanied by members of the so called ‘Tamil Diaspora’ who, from the safety of the foreign …
Dharisha Bastians reporting from New Delhi India’s largest industry chamber yesterday strongly backed the inking of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Sri Lanka, saying the move would boost investment even as trade between the two nations has surged in the past decade. “Sri Lanka has shown reluctance,” said the Confederation of Indian Industry …
By Archana Arul The setting in the run up to the Geneva meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council is getting increasingly clear, not just with Washington letting Colombo know that a third successive resolution against the island nation for alleged war crimes and accountability is very much on the cards. If US Assistant …
By Gihan Nicholas Do they belong in politics? That is the question that is being raised with regard to the myriad of artistes, who are gradually making inroads into mainstream politics. A staggering number of celebrities, whose professions vary from acting to modelling to singing, showed interest in contesting the upcoming Provincial Council election, from …
An Interview With Chamitha Kuruppu Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the newly-elected Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), vows to defeat communalism, religious extremism and separatism in the country. He asserts that the Marxist JVP will put more weight behind reaching and socialising with the Tamils in Northern and Eastern Provinces as an approach to solve …
by N Sathiya Moorthy It is now becoming increasingly clear that the US prime-mover of the two earlier resolutions against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC seems to have been caught in a cleft-stick, as was only to be expected. It does not mean that Sri Lanka has got off it all. Instead, there will be …
By Upul Joseph Fernando Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in the United States Department of State, Nisha Desai Biswal , had wanted to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa during her recent visit to the country. Diplomatic sources revealed that she was carrying a strong message from America to be given to …
By Meera Srinivasan With its failure to convincingly address allegations of war crimes, or implement a meaningful process of reconciliation over the last five years, Sri Lanka finds itself trapped by international pressure ahead of the UNHRC meet in Geneva. All along, criticism of the country’s human rights record has come largely from rights groups …
by Udaya Gammanpila I made a request to the general public to contribute Rs 100 each for my election campaign if they believe in good governance irrespective of their racial, religious, political or provincial differences. Unfortunately, my message has been distorted to some extent in several websites in their attempt to add an emotional tone …
BY DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA There are two huge reality checks coming up in seven weeks. The Geneva vote will be a reality check for the Government while the Western and Southern Provincial Council election results will be a reality check for the Opposition. Both votes will illustrate and exacerbate the crises of the policy paradigms …
by Shamindra Ferdinando The government has accused the International Organization for Migration (IOM) of violating its mandate by arranging a secret meeting between a group of ex-LTTE terrorists and a top level US delegation led by Ambassador-at-Large Stephen J. Rapp, the head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice, during the second week of January. …
By Zacki Jabbar Kalutara District UNP MP Palitha Thevarapperuma, who manhandled the party’s National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at Wednesday’s parliamentary group meeting, was suspended from the party yesterday. Informed sources said that the notice of suspension had been served on Thevarapperuma and also copied to the Disciplinary Committee of the UNP.
By Upul Joseph Fernando The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government seems to think that China is its saviour. It presents China as a constituent party of the government for the consumption of gullible people on whom the government depends very much to continue to be in power. When one sees the antics of the government while it …
by N. Sathiya Moorthy Northern Province Chief Minister, Justice C. V. Wigneswaran has to be commended for not giving in completely to hard-liners’ demands for a Provincial Council resolution seeking an (fresh?) international probe on ‘accountability issues’. He and a few others in the 30-member TNA grouping in the 38-seat PC got the draft modified …
By Saman Indrajith Pandemonium reigned at yesterday’s UNP Parliamentary Group meeting as party’s Kalutara District MP moved towards the head table issuing threats. The UNP’s parliamentary group met at a committee room in the Parliament complex yesterday morning with the party’s National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe presiding. At the commencement of the meeting, MP Thevarapperuma lashed …
By Ananth Palakidnar President Mahinda Rajapaksa, while extending birthday greetings to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Leader, R. Sampanthan, has invited him for direct talks over the Tamil question.
By Gagani Weerakoon Colombo District Parliamentarian, Ravi Karunanayake, yesterday resigned from the National Nomination Board of the United National Party (UNP), expressing his disappointment and aversion over the manner in which the decisions are being taken with regard to the selection of candidates for the Western Provincial Council election from the Colombo District. In a …
By Dharisha Bastians A strategy and lobby firm contracted by the Sri Lanka Central Bank at a thumping fee has aired a 30 minute documentary to promote the island’s post war potential and progress on a major US television network last weekend.
By Saman Indrajith UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe urged from the government yesterday to present to Parliament all the documents pertaining to the Colombo Port City Project being built by reclaiming the sea near the Galle Face Green. Making a special statement to Parliament Wickremesinghe said: “The media has reported that a city called …
by Vishnuguptha “Other lands have their vitality in a few, a class, but we have it in the bulk of our people.” ~Walt Whitman The setting sun with its crimson glow and a radiating circumference had a final peep at the green paddy fields that lay about the vast expanse. The entirety of the field …
Continue reading ‘Tears, sweat and blood……..Unending Spirit and Will of the Rural Farmer’ »
By Ravi Perera Last week at the Colombo General Cemetery we attended the funeral of Justice S. Sri Skandaraja, the President of the Court of Appeal. Several hundred mourners braved the mid-day sun to salute the memory of a man who had given a lifetime of service to the legal system of this country, a …
By Dharisha Bastians The Sri Lankan Government has refused entry to a top US official, signalling a hardening of positions in Colombo ahead of the UN Human Rights Council Session in March where Washington is to sponsor a third resolution pushing the country to move forward on reconciliation and accountability. This is the first time …
By C.V.K.Sivagnanam (Text of Keynote address delivered by C.V.K. Sivagnanam, Chairman, Northern Provincial Council at Canadian Tamil Congress “Thai Pongal” Dinner held in Toronto on January 18, 2014.) Mr. President, Honorable guests, dear brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous Tamil New year and Thai …
Mel Gunasekera, who was killed at her private residence in Battaramulla, was adored by her colleagues. They loved her personality, her willingness to help, and her radiant smile. Hence, the news of her sudden death that came on the first Sunday of the month of February was an utter shock to everyone in the country’s …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Biswal wouldn’t have declared that Sri Lanka’s human rights record had deteriorated five years after the conclusion of the conflict if she had been properly briefed by the US embassy in Colombo. Biswal had been …
An Interview with Shihara Maduwage United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian Rosy Senanayake who is also a strong voice for women in Sri Lanka told the Daily Mirror during an interview that the status of women in the country was in a grave situation. She also spoke about the current political atmosphere in the country, the …
Police at Arlanda airport in Stockholm have arrested a man suspected to be a Sri Lankan national who attempted to enter the cockpit of a plane destined for Sweden claiming he had a bomb, foreign media reported.
Police last evening arrested the prime suspect in the murder of senior Business journalist and Asst Vice President of Fitch Ratings, Ms.Mel Gunasekera at her residence in Battaramulla. SSP Ajith Rohana said that the officers of the special Crime Investigation Unit of the Mirihana Police had made the arrest at the New Road, Dompe. Suspect …
By Dharisha Bastians A deteriorating human rights climate and insufficient progress on reconciliation, justice and accountability five years after the end of conflict was placing Sri Lanka’s proud democratic traditions in jeopardy, a top United States envoy said in Colombo on Saturday (1). “We are concerned about the worsening situation with respect to human rights, …
Ms. Mel Gunasekera the Assistant Vice President at Fitch Ratings Lanka and senior business Journalist was found murdered at her house in Battaramulla on Sunday February 2nd morning, Police said Police said that Ms. Gunasekara was found dead with injuries caused by a sharp weapon.
An Interview With Chamitha Kuruppu Bold and beautiful Hirunika Premachandra believes she has a right to be a part of this Government simply because her late father has shed blood, sweat and tears to bring this regime to power. “We care about the President, we care about this Government. My family has always been with …
by Smriti Daniel What do you say to a man who has kept you waiting for five years? Before us stands author and poet Vikram Seth; shirt open to the waist, hair tousled by hands and breeze, he’s uncertain of who we are and why we have come to intrude on him. I’m wet from …
By Vishnuguptha “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”–-Jane Austen Memories, memories and more memories, that’s all what we would be eventually left with. If our legacy to our children is only those memories, …
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Biswal, yesterday reassured Northern Provincial Council member, Ananthi Sasitharan that she would apply pressure on the Sri Lankan Government through the US to look into disappearances, abductions and the fate of LTTE combatants, who had surrendered to the government. …
More than 2,000 Christians gathered in Colombo on Sunday (January 26) to protest against a perceived lack of religious freedom in Sri Lanka, following recent attacks on Christian places of worship by Buddhist extremists.
On the 26th of January 2014, the pastor of the Calvary Free Church in Rathgama in the Galle district and some congregation members were praying together at the premises of one of the members. Whilst the prayer meeting was in progress, at approximately 10.40 a.m., eight police officers together with a Buddhist monk forcibly entered …
On the 08th of January 2014, at approximately 8.45 p.m., 11.40 p.m. and 5.00 a.m. stones were hurled into the premises of the pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, in Nalle, Gampaha by a group of unidentified persons.
(Text of Statement Issued by the President of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi and Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan) The Central Committee meeting of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi was held on 26th.January 2014 at the Town Hall, Trincomalee. The meeting was attended by representatives from all districts in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The …
By Vishnuguptha “You can wipe out your opponents. But if you do it unjustly you become eligible for being wiped out yourself.” ~Ernest Hemingway Proportional Representation (PR) system introduced along with the passage of the 1978 Constitution changed the way in which elections are conducted in Sri Lanka forever. Although it was introduced into our …